


Masquerade

by The_Scarf_Girls



Category: Love Live! School Idol Project, Love Live! Sunshine!!
Genre: F/F, No need to be into the fandom to understand it
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-24
Updated: 2018-12-07
Packaged: 2019-01-04 18:33:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 132,008
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12174363
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Scarf_Girls/pseuds/The_Scarf_Girls
Summary: 9 Girls were gathered to start a new project in order to continue the Love Live Franchise.In this new "Idol" world they are getting into, of course, feelings can get in the way.The story follows Suwa Nanaka's point of view, how everything started and how everything got complicated for the sake of "doing the job". How good her Masquerade can be?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Masquerade intends to tell the story and development of Aqours in the "Idol world", some facts are maybe not that accurate, but we tried and did some research...  
> Something to have in mind;  
> \--------o0o---- (Skip in year)  
> \------*oo*------- ( Skip in days)  
> \--0oo0-- (End of chapter)  
> A nice cover for this series --> http://fav.me/dbodq9z

Masquerade.

Chapter 1.

 

**This was confusing, how had this even happened? How did this situation become so damn stressing? She was puzzled. Suwa Nanaka was troubled; she had a deep attraction to two different people.**

 

\--------o0o (Skip in year, 2015)----

 

Not so long ago, she received this huge opportunity from her agency to be on the audition for the second generation of the Love Live! Franchise, Love Live! Sunshine was its name. 

Paper in hand, and feeling a little awkward, about her way of dressing, she tried it. 

She was auditioning for the role of “Matsuura Kanan”; a teenage girl aiming to become a school idol with her high-school friends. Being a fan of the franchise she was no stranger to almost anything, she was actually excited. Even if the role she was auditing for was quite opposite to her, a cheerful girl, with lots of stamina and "muscles to show off".  
She wasn't any of that.  

Suwa Nanaka was a quiet girl, in her early 20ties, thin, calm and almost sleepy girl, really into female fashion with simple frilly blouses, however after discussing with her manager over this unique role, she decided to attend the audition in a simple and slightly boyish outfit, (here the awkward feeling).

Even imitating her character’s ponytail in her hairstyle, she really, really wanted this role more than the other 8 roles in the disposal.  

She tried in her calm and carefree way to do the audition, actually, she didn't pay any mind about her surroundings, she never does anyway, not because she was nervous or freak out, just because she lives in her world.  
A calm and slow world.

So, even if she felt awkward, even if she felt nervous, well, no one could tell. 

She tried so hard to memorize the script given for the role of Kanan, but her mind just went blank, somehow she managed to go thru it, and pass the audition with bright colors. 

Suwa Nanaka had the role of Matsuura Kanan. 

 

\------*o( Skip in days) o*-------

Why was this role so important?  
Well, she indeed had a few minors’ seiyuu roles in some countless video games series, and she is a radio personality, this wasn't her debut in the animation industry but it was her debut in something big as Love Live! Franchise. And this means her first major role in an anime.  
C'mon! This was huge. 

Paper in hand once again, she was trying to convince herself again that this was big, important and very exciting opportunity to kick off her career.  
  
Nanaka was walking thru a hallway, with all her pace and serenity, today was the very first time she was going to meet her new fellow coworkers and future friends of this new project. 

Being the fan she was about the franchise, she knew her predecessor were 9 girls who become from coworkers to very close friends; 5 whole years stuck together with each other performing, singing, and dancing.  
  
This thought skipped a heartbeat from her, how will be her new teammates?  
Is she going to fill in well?  
She couldn't ask herself more questions about it, she was already there. 

She entered into a conference room; it was a quiet room, she could hear some low chitchat, she thought she was the first one getting in, but she was wrong, there were 6 other girls already inside sitting in a big table. 

She sends a sweet smile for the girls who just give a glance at her, she muttered a sweet "good morning" to her fellow teammates wannabe, but no one gave her anything else but a small bow, they quick enough came back to their respective chitchat.

Even if everyone looked shy about the situation, it seemed to be lively in a way, and that was natural, it was their first time meeting each other. 

Nanaka took a seat.  
In front of her, there was a tall girl, who seems to be really excited talking with a short one, this one keeps taking estrange glances to the girls at the end of the table, it seems she had some high-pitched tone, and tend to smile a lot.  
Maybe she was someone really easy going? 

Nanaka dropped her papers in front of her over the table and quickly tried to peak to her front right.  
  
There were two other girls chitchatting more calmly; the one at the end of the table had really big expressing eyes, looked tall, and a bit serious, her fellow chitchat companion was a girl, not that tall and seems to have an easy smile.  
At Nanaka's right, where the other two girls left, one of them was really into the conversation that was happening in front of her, while the last one, the one who was at the end of the table, was too focused looking at the "big expressing eyes" girl.   
But for Nanaka was a bit difficult to distinguish her, she was just too short for Nanaka to see her clearly.

It was a 30-second glimpse of these girls, and she returned to her papers in front of her, her attention snapped out of her by a cute voice on her left.

" I didn't recognize you without your boyish outfit..." she heard

Nanaka turned her attention to her left; a cute girl with puffy cheeks, long black hair, and a sweet smile on her face was just standing there beside her.

"...But I would like to say that this outfit looks better on ya." Said this girl and then smiled wide at her

Nanaka opened her eyes wide and lifted her eyebrows; she tried to say something clever, but she was overwhelmed, instead, she blinked not one, nor twice, but three times. 

"What?" She managed to say  
The girl just smiled even wider, she looked over at the other girls  
"Good morning everyone!" she said with a sweet tone  
Then she just dropped her folder in front of her over the table, all the girls say a weak "good morning " and she took a seat at Nanaka's left side. 

Nanaka just looked at her with a blank expression trying to figure it out if she actually knew this girl.  
This girl was just wearing jeans, boots, a leather jacket and her hair down with a cap, very “boyish”, maybe that’s why she was caught on her sight that day on the auditions and of course this took this girls attention, cause now she was wearing her girly style as always.

“I’m Saito Shuka, nice to meet ya.”  
The girl spoke again with a lot of energy looking right at Nanaka’s eyes, and giving her a wide smile again.  
Nanaka blinked once again, but managed to give a smile in return.

“Suwa Nanaka, nice to meet you.”  
Nanaka did a small bow; Shuka smiled even wider showing her teeth and bowing as well. 

“I saw you on the day of the auditions, I’m really happy to see you passed…”  
Shuka added quickly turning her gaze away from Nanaka  
“… I heard you had a blank on the scrip you were given, but you nail it on the sing and dance part.”    
  
_ok, who is this girl?_    
Nanaka thought.

“Well, I’m not a great dancer, but I like it, I’m happy to pass the audition too.”  
Said Nanaka and then added a tiny smile.  
“Who’s your character?”

“Watanabe You.”  Shuka smiled again, wider.

Nanaka remembered this character quite well; in fact, she dismissed taking the audition for her, because it was really out of character, a girl full of energy, really energetic.  
For her, Kanan was a character that maybe was enthusiastic but looked so calm, so gentle, and maybe a bit like her.

Anyways, the conversation got an end when the 8 girls had to turn back to the door, where another girl made her entrance with a few older members, whom you can presume were the staff for the project.  
The girl sat at Shuka’s left side, she dropped her papers on the table, gave a small bow and smile to the other 8 girls, and quietly took her seat.  
The 9 girls look forward to the staff.

They were 3 persons, two women and a man, one of the woman had a lot of paper sheets on her hands while the other one had something like a notebook and pen in hand. The man has nothing to him, just a big smile. 

"Congratulations everyone! And welcome to the Love Live! Sunshine project,"  
The man started speaking with a high and clear voice, almost if he was there shouting  
"...I'm the chief of the staff and they are my assistants, and maybe your new best friends, every question or doubts please refer to them, don't hesitate to ask."  
He made a pause for the women to introduce themselves, then he said his name, all the girls bowed. 

“Here, this are your schedules for the next 6 months, we don't have time to waste”  
The woman with the papers started to handle some of them to each girl, everyone said a shy "thank you" in return. 

Basically, the man wasn't smooth about it.  
Love Live!, μ’s, (their predecessors) was going to end next year, on a final Live in March/April, and they were the ones to follow their legacy, to start a new group, and do everything μ’s did, but better. 

It seems that all of them were really young and full of potential, and now that μ’s had made the franchise grow this big, someone had to make profits about it. 

For Nanaka, someone who takes her own pace, was quite a speech, she took her new schedule, while the chief of staff was explaining why were they there, and almost faint to see it; for the next 6 month she was full of rehearsals, songs recordings, radio broadcast, niconamas, fan meetings, meetings in general, events around Japan and heavy training.  
  
She snapped out of the sheets of papers to catch the chief saying  
“... And this is the beginning, we will print your schedules for the rest of the year on another occasion, but trust me, we have big plans for all of you."

The hell they had.  
Nanaka took a glimpse to her fellow companions. It seems that everyone was in quite a shock.  
Maybe it's a little too much? 

She didn't notice before but the woman with the notebook started writing and taking notes about everything that was happening. 

All gazes return to the chief who started again explaining that they can't take another 6 years to take it easy.  
it's understandable, μ’s, took that because the concept of "school idols" was quite new, the fans, the industry was hard to penetrate, and they took 2 years to have their first Live, and it was a process of trial and error, and of course it was a project that no one had such faith in it.  
But it succeeded, it grew, and now they were there, in a way, taking advantage of the fame and glory that somebody else built, but now those are kind of too old to keep it, so they need new blood to make it grow even bigger and enjoy the profits and benefits from those who made this happened. 

Nanaka shrank and frowned with that. 

The women with the papers started to hang over more papers to the girls, all of them again answered with a shy "thank you" and a bow. 

The man started again.

"So, in order to prepare all of you quickly enough, we planned you a special training camp in August..."  
  
Nanaka looked her newer papers, she was overwhelmed again, it was a 3 days 4 night training camp, that it seems that everything was really figured it out; heavy training, recording, dance classes, vocal classes, and at the end, some kind of mini live at an event in January 2016.  
Almost a year from now.

 

  
_Oh, my God_.

  
" ... Of course before the training camp we want you to follow your respective schedules, such as recording the cd dramas and learning more about the project, you will have interviews and insights with the creators, and character designers, we want you to be one with your characters, and the 9 of you to become a whole group." The Chief of staff said and then he smiled smugly and proudly. 

Nanaka believed she heard some heads exploding (including hers) and felt some killer instincts against that smile in particular. 

The final live, and μ’s goodbye was going to be a year from now, but they were preparing them from now on to be the idols they need to be to receive the legacy they will have to keep and improve?.  
This wasn’t going to be easy, and maybe all of them knew that. 

"Well…” The man started again “... If there's nothing left for me to say, please follow the schedule at every word, never be late, and please do your best. Now I will let you introduce yourselves to your fellow companions..."  
He took a step back and let the woman with the notebook speak.

“I'll call you by your last name, please stand up, introduce yourself; last name, name, age, and role, thank you."  
The woman took a breath and started reading, the first one to call was "Inami Anju".

As a surprise, the girl who entered last and with the staff stood up.  
She wasn't very tall; she had long hair, big eyes, and a shy smile.  
She looked at every girl on the table and did a shy nod.

"Hi~, my name it's Inami Anju, I'm 19 years old, and my role is for Takami Chika."   
Her way of talk was kind of slow, a little shy maybe? And her tone was kind of cute, after hearing her role in the project, everyone follows with a low "oh".  
  
Chika was the designated leader for the Sunshine project, that means that Inami-san was the leader wannabe of the group.  
"Nice to meet you, everyone, I'm looking forward to working with all of you, please take care of me."  
Inami-san took her seat followed by some applause of the girls and the staff. 

The woman called the next one.  
" Aida Rikako".

The girl who was sitting in front of Nanaka, the girl with an easy smile and the one who has been talking with the very expressing eye girl, stood up.    
She indeed wasn't tall nor short, she had long hair, and of course, she showed her characteristic smile. 

“Hi, I'm Aida Rikako, 22 years old, and I'll be playing Sakurauchi Riko."  
Her tone was sweet and calm.  
"Please let's get along"  
She bowed and everyone clapped, then she took her seat. 

Nanaka was next, so she stood up, and took her time to have the best look of all the girls, in particular, the short one at the end of the table; the girl answered that look with a goofy smile.  
  
_Cute_

Nanaka looked at her left and saw a smiling Shuka.   
  
_Cute too...my, I'm surrounded by cute girls..._

Nanaka cleared her throat.  
"Hi, I'm Suwa Nanaka, I'm 20 years old, and my role is for Matsuura Kanan, nice to meet you all”  
She bowed, gave them a faint smile and sat again. 

For her surprise Shuka was next, she stood up and almost threw her chair off.  
Her voice was full of energy; also her pure and wide smile. 

" Hi~!! I'm Saito Shuka, you can call me Shu-chan, I'm 18 years old! And I play the role of Watanabe You!"  
She ended with her hand doing a salute, just like a sailor will do.  
  
Nanaka recognized that pose to be the one that Shuka’s character was doing in the character design that they were given in the audition.  
Nanaka opened her eyes. Wide.

  
_Just how much energy does this girl have?_

She wasn't the only one; she could see an "o" drew in almost every girl faces.  
Nanaka smiled at Shuka who took a seat and gave her back a big smile.

 

“There!”  
The chief of staff shouted making all the girls jump a bit in their seats.  
“That’s what I was looking for, you should say your nicknames in your introduction, that will give you an extra charm point with the audience!”  
  
Nanaka shook her head to her side,  
  
_a nickname? Charm points with the audience?  
_  
They haven't even started yet and he is looking for that now?   
_Really?_    
  
Nanaka sure believed him now with this "no time to waste" thing; she blinked and noticed the short girl in front of her again, the one with the assume high pitch, she keeps making stranger glances over the girls on the end of the table, somehow the girl with big expressing eyes looked troubled.  
  
She returned her gaze to her papers and schedule.  
  
Oh Sweet buttery pancakes, how is she gonna make all of this? What about her Radio broadcast? Her other seiyuu activities? How on earth is she going to survive all this practice and stuff?  
  
She snapped out again from her world when everybody clapped, she made a little jump in her seat; she saw the big expressing eyes girl taking a seat, it seems she missed her presentation.

“Were you daydreaming or something?“ Shuka say in a whispering voice to Nanaka, she felt her cheeks turning red; Shuka smiled  
“Her name is Komiya Arisa, she likes to be called Arisha, and she is 21.”  
Nanaka looked over Arisha, she really looked so mature and somehow serious.  
“She had the Role of Kurosawa Dia.” Shuka finished, Nanaka nodded in response.

Later on, they learned that the tall girl who had been talking with the high-pitched one its called Takatsuki Kanako, and her nickname was "Takatsuking" or "Kyanako”, 21 years and the voice of Kunikida Hanamaru.  
The one who was seated on Nanaka’s right its call Kobayashi Aika, people call her Aikyan, 21 years too, and the high-pitched girl, it’s called Furihata Ai, 20 years old, and like to be called “Aiai or Furirin”, and God she was so short.

And finally, the last girl on the end of the table stood up. She had been quiet all this time, starring Arisa in awe this whole time, Nanaka shook her head and move her body a bit to the back, she really wanted to see her clearly. If Furihata-san was short, well this girl was the shortest.

The girl smiled, and it was really sweet, she had big eyes, black and straight hair. Fluffy cheeks. She noticed Nanaka curious eyes and once again gave her a goofy smile, Nanaka was in awe.

“Hi~”  
The girl said in a high pitch tone. Everyone opened her eyes wide at her, in surprise. Nanaka thought she would have a soft voice, not this high pitch.  
  
The girl seemed nervous, so she started to play with her hands.  
”I’m Suzuki Aina, please call me Ainya, I’m 19 years old, and I’ll be voicing Ohara Mari~” this sentence was in a normal voice tone, again, people opened their eyes wider  
“let's get along…”  
the last sentence was in a soft tone.  
That was interesting.

  
_How many voices and tones does this girl have?_    
  
  
Aina took a seat, everybody clapped again.  
The chief of staff stepped to the front once again, clears his throat. 

"The project will officially start on Dengeki G's Magazine website and will correspond to April's edition, it will begin with a key visual...”  
  
  
_April?!, that means it will come out in February_ ,  
Nanaka lifted her eyebrows

“…The edition will be out on Thursday 26” said the Chief of Staff

   _man! that’s like in two weeks!_           
  
“... So we will start as soon as possible, welcome aboard, and please do your best."

With that, he bowed, the girls’ bowed and the assistants’ bowed.  
Then the three of them went out of the room leaving the girls on their own.  
Silence hung thick in the air.

 

“There are times like that, aren’t there?”  
Suddenly Furihata-san said with a totally different pitch, everyone looked at her with funny faces and some of them even giggle. 

“So it seems.”  
finished Takatsuki-san, who started cleaning all her papers and collecting them on her folder. 

“ It’s me or this feels a little bit rush?” Said Inami-san with a shy smile.

“ What do you mean?”  
Shuka asked with a sweet and naive tone, almost so innocent. Nanaka become uneasy in her seat and looked for her folder in her bag to put her papers away.

“It seems like we are a replacement for μ’s.”  
Sentenced Aikyan with a little of a sad tone.  
Nanaka put her folder on top of the table and started collecting all her papers inside.   
  
_Of course, we ARE their replacement..._

“I mean, they finished their last Live a week ago…” Said Inami-san again “...And a movie was announced, if they are going to say goodbye next year, they still have this year to keep doing things, Why would they start a new project so soon?”

All of them started to speak at the same time, with different theories, and in different tones. It seems that the shy environment was cracking out.  
Nanaka didn’t say anything; does it matter if it was this early anyway?  
She finished putting everything away and took a look at her new companions.  
She opened her eyes wide.

God, they were so…

 _Loud._   

On her left Inami-san with Shuka were talking really vividly with Takatsuki-san and Furihata-san, while on her right, Aida-san, Kobayashi-san, and Suzuki-San were discussing other things. Komiya-san seemed annoyed; maybe she thought they were loud too? She suddenly stood up.

“Ok girls…”She said loud and clear, all of them remind in silence looking at her

 “... I think it doesn’t matter that, in fact, I believe they are being really considerate of us, they are giving us a year to prepare ourselves.”Nanaka nod almost naturally.“…μ’s is not something we should take lightly, and we need to be at their level.”

“This can backfire so bad.”

Every pair of eyes landed on Nanaka’s words; she was surprised to even say that out loud. She brought her hand to her mouth, her cheeks turning red.

"I’m sorry.”

“Oh my, you are right!”  
Suzuki-san snapped with a high pitch, making them jump in their seats, Nanaka removed her hand and looked over Suzuki-san, she gave her a concerned look, but later she smiled sweetly.

Now, all looks were on Aina.

“Care to explain?” Said Inami-san

“μ’s is something big, and they are going to end, we ARE their replacement, there’s this big chance that our acceptance with the fans is equal to zero, they can see us as a cheap imitation of them.”  
Nanaka nod at Aina, they shared a smile.  
It seems that behind that goofy smile, and those big and shiny eyes, there was someone serious. 

“Well,…we can’t take that chance…”Inami-San came again “…you are right, this can backfire very bad at us, but!…” she left a few seconds of drama“…we will go thru it!, I believe in us. The nine of us.”

  
Nanaka didn’t know if that speech was because she was playing Chika-chan, the meant to be the leader of the group, or because she really believe on them, 8 people that she just meet, but everyone smiled at her or nodded at her in response. 

“It's on us to make that happen,” Aisha added.

“Good!” Shuka stood up quickly and every eye was on her.              
“Now that we finally met, I think we should share our phone numbers!”   
Shuka brought her phone out, smiling.

“Oh~ that's a nice move!”   
Furihata-san said standing up and taking her phone too. She suddenly turned her sigh to Takatsuki-san         
“You know, I think your nickname is just too long, how about “King”?”  
Takatsuki-san smiled and looked up for everyone’s approval; seen that everybody nodded for the new nickname, she cheerfully spoke.

“You are right!, King it is then, now let’s make a Line Chat group!”  
She stood up following Furihata-san and Shuka. 

Nanaka looked King; she indeed was the tallest of them all.  
It made a funny picture to see Furihata-san and King standing beside each other.

  
Then she stood up like everybody else and saw all of them taking out their phones.

  
_A Line chat group uh?  
  
_ Well, that makes sense; they will be sticking together for a few years from now on.    
Furihata-san was the one in charge to make the chat group and collecting the phone numbers, everybody seemed to recover their vivid mood and started to chitchat again.

"Ne...ne...”  
Called Shuka on Nanaka's left, she just has her phone returned to her from Furihata-san, there was something so cute about Shuka's tone, that made Nanaka's heart skip a beat, and feeling her sugar levels go above her head, and turning her cheeks bright red. She turns to Shuka's attention.             
"...Suwa-san... How, er..eto, er.."  
She felt really frustrated, but the smile on Shuka's face never disappeared, Nanaka smiled, she really thought that she could die right there.

“Excuse me!..."  
A high tone interrupted the moment, everybody looking for the little Aina who manage to make herself noticeable with her high range pitch; phone in hand she walked towards them  
" ... There are some of you that didn't say their nicknames or how you want to be called, I would like to save that name on my contact phone if that's ok?"

 Suzuki-San gave them a cute smile. 

" Right!" Shouted Inami-San " we didn't have the chance because it was Shuka-chan's idea!

"Shuka-chan?" murmured Shuka, Nanaka giggled.

“Well you can call me Anju, but if you like, it can be Ann-chan too! Since I'm one of the youngest among us, I just turned 19 last week...”  
That followed with an "oh~" from everybody and a quick "congratulations" and "happy belated birthday".  
They learned that Furihata-San was next in line for her birthday and that Arisha's was last week too. 

“I think we can call you Rikyako!.” Said Aikyan pointing Aida-San, she smiled and agreed with that.  
"And what about "Shukashuu"? Said Aikyan towards Shuka, she just smiled, and everybody agrees with that nickname.

"I think it's cute" quoted Nanaka by her side, Shuka smiled wider

"Then Shukashuu it is!" said proudly Shuka

Everybody finished typing on their phones.

Soon all gazes were on Nanaka. 

"Suwa-San?" Suzuki-San called.

“Eh, a nickname..."  
She hesitated to speak, she wasn’t that confident with the nickname she got not some time ago.  
"Suwawa." She finally said

"Suwawa~!" High pitched Suzuki-San repeated with a whole smile and enthusiasm 

"So cute~!”  
Shuka said taking her phone again.  
She started typing and saving the number; Nanaka took a look at Shuka's typing, she wasn't typing "Suwawa" at all, instead, she wrote “Osuwa".  
Nanaka giggle.

"What's with that?"

"Well, everybody here will save you as "Suwawa", I'll be different,"  
Shuka said closing her phone putting it away and giving her a grin.  
Nanaka just shared a smile with her.

 

Soon everybody left the dense topic about work and their schedules and started talking about anything else, about themselves and how they aimed for this job. The shy environment was already gone, and everyone was there more calmly and relaxed.  
Soon Nanaka had to stand up again an excuse herself.    
Shuka gave her a sad look and stood too. 

Nanaka bowed and say goodbye to them, some of them stood too and realized that it was late and some of them had other jobs or things to do rather than be there "wasting" time.  
  
Quietly she left the conference room in her normal peace, Shuka was fast enough to catch her at the end of the hall.

"Suwa -San!"  
Nanaka turned and smiled at her              
"What's the hurry?!"  
She could see a genuine sad smile on Shuka's face, it melted her heart.

"Got to work on my broadcast today."  
She said in her easy tone, and she started walking again, Shuka followed thru. 

"Oh~ so do you have another job?"

"Yes, I do... I work on a radio show, and I had some manor role as a seiyuu....”  
They were heading to the main entrance of the building, Shuka just hummed  
  
" Does Shuka have another job?" Nanaka asked with a singsong voice.

"Oh, no, this is my first job in the industry of animations and seiyuu..."  
Her tone was kind of sad.  
Nanaka noticed it, her smile faded in.

"It's ok"  
Nanaka took Shuka’s right hand on hers, not really understanding why she gave her a little squeeze.             
"This is gonna be huge for all of us, and we will be fine, you will see, this is just the first step."  
Nanaka left her hand and gave her a sweet smile and wave.             
"See you Shukashuu~."

With that Nanaka just left the building heading with her own pace and world, to her broadcast appointment, leaving an astonish Saito Shuka on the building door. 

"She sure it's something, don't you think?"  
Shuka looked to her right; Suzuki Aina was standing there at her side looking at how Suwawa moved her hips in her swing pace of walking.  
Shuka just returned her sight on Nanaka.              
"How can she be so quiet I wonder?!~" Aina added.

Shuka just snorted about that last line because of the high-pitched tone of Suzuki San.  

"You know, Suzuki San…”  
Shuka smiled with her teeth, still looking thru the glass door.  
"...You sure sound like an old man when you laugh."

"Ehh~!! No way, no way, whatyousayin~" Aina stomped her own words Shuka just giggle.  ...

 

Later that night Nanaka was in the radio station a few minutes before to start her broadcast, suddenly her phone vibrated in her pocket; she looked at it, she had received a new text message in her Line app, she just gave it a quick glimpse, but was enough for her heart to stop.

" **Osuwa san~!! Have a great broadcast today! I'll be listening to you~ do your best! (** **づ￣** **³** **￣** **)** **づ** **"**

The message was from Shuka, she couldn't help but have a goofy smile on her face.

"Good news?" Her co-worker asked with a wide grin on her face.

"Maybe, I don't know yet," Nanaka said putting her phone away. 

That broadcast was the best show she had in months. 

 

\------*o ( Skip in days) o*-------

Once again, papers in hand, but this time in some kind of a rush, Nanaka was jogging (but slow) thru the halls of the Lantis building (the discography) to get to her appointment.  

Last night her recording session for one of her minors’ roles was up to late, so she indeed had slept in that morning, and now she was in a rush - kind of- to meet everybody. 

To her surprise it seems that everybody was late, the only one in there was Anchan, who greeted her with a wide smile and a loud good morning. 

"Morning~…" replied Nanaka with a singsong voice “ ... I thought I was late..."  
She sat on the opposite side of the table in front of Anchan and put her papers on top of the table

"You know, you can use a folder... Those are a lot of papers." Said Anchan

Nanaka just replied with a quiet "uhm", she had her folder on her bag but was in such a rush to put them in there, Anchan just smiled and continued  
"I made a mistake with the hours....” she said kind of embarrassed “…And I came one hour earlier, I believe you did too." 

"What?" Said Nanaka opening her eyes wide as two fried eggs

 "Yeah, I misunderstood the time in the schedule, and I wrote the wrong time on the chat group..."  
She scratched the back of her neck, while Nanaka moved her papers over and over to see the actual schedule for today.  
Indeed, Anchan was right, and she came 30 minutes early when she thought she was already too late. 

After the first meeting, the 9 members started this chat group on the Line App, for Nanaka was a non-stop spam chat that never sleeps.  
Aiai, Aikyan, and King were full of energy all the time, sending pictures, videos and talking whatever nonsense were they doing.  
Shukashuu and Anchan were some kinds of a dorky pair too along with Aina’s weird sounds and stickers. It seems that the only normal people were Arisha, Rikyako and herself.  
Her interactions were just as sharp, precise and when it was needed.  
She actually loves to sleep, so her sleeping hours are gold to her, so after one hour in particularly she just silenced her phone and the world could end for all she cares.  
  
Last night wasn't an exception, she silenced her phone just before she saw Anchan’s message that the meeting was at 8 am.  
She woke up with that in mind and seeing the time she just rushed to the Lantis building, even forgetting her contacts, so she was wearing her glasses. 

She just sighed and gave Inami-San a tired smile. 

"Sorry..." said Anchan with a shy smiled  
 Nanaka just put her folder out of her bag and put her papers inside 

" Don't worry."  Said Nanaka with her monotone  
  
_Just what kind of leader is she gonna be acting like that?_  

“Oh~! Morning! “ Said Aiai opening the door with her high-pitched tone             
" I thought I was going to be the first one to come!”

"Morning Furihata-San,"  
Said Nanaka maybe too polite. Even if they said their nicknames and names, this was her second meeting, for her was a little bit awkward to not be polite. At least with the most of them, she had some kind of special treatment with Shuka, and maybe Ainya?. 

"Morning Furirin~!" Said Inami-San with a smile.             
"You didn't mistake the time, did you?"

"No, I like to be early " She blinked, then she took a seat at Anchan’s right seat.  
“Oh my, don’t say! Both of you misunderstood the time!"  
She said in awe, Nanaka just rolled her eyes, she didn't have enough time to sleep, She was actually tired this time in the morning, Anchan just giggled.              
"Nice glasses Suwawa~,"  said at the end Aiai

"Yeah, nice glasses Suwa-San, now we can't see your eyes,” said Anchan with a mocking smile          
"I forgot my contacts..."            
"Please call me Furirin or Aiai."  
Said Aiai to Nanaka; she just nodded.  
"So, what do you think are we going to do today?"

" I believe today we will have some insight into the characters." Said Anchan

"My, I was reading my audition script last night, it seems my character is a crybaby,"  
Said Aiai a little bit annoyed               
“You know, high-pitched, slow-talking crybaby."

"Well, it fits you right” Said Anchan with her mocking face. 

Nanaka decided that she had enough even if she wasn’t; it was just so damn early! She didn't have any breakfast and if she knew well when everybody gets there that room will become loud as hell.  So she stood up.

"Excuse me, I'm going to the vending machine."  
With that said she left the two of them chitchatting about how stupid the character of Chika was. 

 

The vending machine was there in the hall, not so far from the conference room. She took her time to decide what to buy.  
She decided for some orange juice and a pack of cookies.  
Not healthy, not the mood for healthy anyways. 

She was taking her cookies out when she heard her name being almost shouted all over the hall. That was enough to snap her out of her morning slumber. 

"Suwawa~!!”  
Suzuki Aina was there happy as always, and for Nanaka's surprise, Shuka was with her. 

"Suwawa,"   
Shuka repeated, her cheeks becoming a little bit red.  
Nanaka smiled at the two of them. 

"Morning, Shukashuu, Ainya." Shuka smiled wide, while Aina give her a goofy grin

"Aren't you cute?!~ " Aina said loud again    
"I almost didn't recognize you with your glasses! "  
Nanaka shrugged, was that really weird?!

"I forgot my contacts"  
She hurried to say, almost shaking her snacks in her hands, Aina just passes thru her to the room laughing like an old man. Nanaka could hear her saying good morning to the other girls inside.

"I think you look cute."  
She heard Shuka said; Nanaka just turned around and see Shuka was still smiling at her, with her sweet smile, and sweet cheeks, and her glowing eyes...  
  
... _Ok. Stop!_.

  
She couldn't help but smile back at her with a stupid grin and say,             
" I forgot my contacts" Again. 

"I know,"  
Shuka answered, not taking her eyes away from her.  
Both shared a smile.             
"I recognize you because of your cute outfit, but it looks cuter with your glasses. I think you look like a doll."

"Thank you, you look nice too"  
Said Nanaka shyly, that wasn't a lie, she really looked cute, nice and beautiful...  
Something was wrong. Nanaka stopped herself.              
 "Want some?" She offered her snacks at Shuka, in a way to distract Shuka's attention away from her, and being with her cool and peaceful “Suwa face “ she hid the fact that she was fangirling on the inside.

"Sure! I love cookies!” said Shuka with energy  
Nanaka’s cheek became wild red _  
  
Stop it Nanaka! Get yourself together _ 

  
She handles her the pack of cookies, sharing some smiles and glances. 

"Hey! Shuka-chan!”   
Anchan snapped the both of them, while she appeared from the room door            
"Ainya told me you were here too, come inside to play! What’s taking you so long?!~"  
It was almost a whine, Shuka just smiled at Anchan.  
Nanaka just had her poker face. 

“Morning An-chan!, just grabbing some cookies~" Shuka took a few cookies and winked Suwawa. Then she entered in the room. 

Nanaka was left in awe.  
It took her almost a full minute to recover from that. 

She was snapped out of her world with the greetings of Arisa and King, whom after saying their "good mornings" made some compliments about her glasses. 

She drank her juice and ate some of the cookies outside the room. Taking a special mental note that no matter what, from now on, she CAN'T forget her contacts again. 

She entered the room, like she thought, was loud as hell. The only one that wasn't making loud noises was Arisa.  
Nanaka took her seat and put her cookies away.  
Later on, Aikyan and Rikyako entered the room, followed by the well-known chief of staff and his assistants.

Again there was that woman full of folders and papers while the other one took a seat at the back of the conference room, pen in hand and started writing stuff on her notebook.

  
_Creep_. 

"Morning ladies~!"Greeted the chief of staff “Glad to see everybody on time, good"  
Nanaka could hear some giggles and complicity glances towards each other, most of them over Anchan.           
     
"Today we will learn more about the project and the characters…" Continue the chief talking while the woman with the papers started handing them a folder to each girl  
"if you recall well, Love Live girls have their own personality, faculties and color image”

Nanaka got a green folder, Shuka who was seated on her right was a light blue folder; she lifted her eyebrows.

  
_Green? I thought her color image was gonna be blue..._

"Your predecessor figured this out with time, polls and maybe by mistake, but this is not going to be your case, you will become your characters, your characters will be an extension of yourselves. "His tone was kind of harsh.  
"So please open your folders…”  
  
Everybody did what they were told, Nakaka greeted a picture of Kanan, her character.             
"For all of you, everything had been sorted out, your image color, your personality, even the way you look, has to be like your character."

Suzuki Aina lifted her right hand asking permission to speak, the chief nodded. 

"My character is blonde! That means I have to change my hair color?!"  
She asked a little bit afraid, the girls giggled, and Nanaka shared a smile with her.  
Kanan's hair was blue, and Nanaka was just thinking about returning to her black natural color after dyed it brown. 

"Oh my God, Ruby's is a furious red!" Whined Aiai, everybody laughed at her high-pitched tone.

“Of course you don't have to dye your hair, ‘Ayase Eli's’ VA didn't dye her hair, she just stuck with the hairstyle, if you want to get close to the tone of the character's hair, that's fine too"  
The chief finally said.  
Nanaka sighted relieved, she will just have to put on her ponytail and that’s it.

“ That means I’ll have to cut my hair…” Nanaka could hear Shuka’s mumbling on her seat. 

“On the folder, you can find your character's background, preferences, hobbies and a short introduction, that you will finally be able to learn it by heart.”  
Everybody started to look at some of the pages.              
“… We will start a poll on Dengeki G's Magazine about the girls personality, but, of course it will be limited to some alternatives based on what we saw in your auditions, we didn’t pick you just for your dance or singing abilities only, we saw something in your personality and physical characteristics that should fit with the character.”  
  
With that said, Nanaka looked at a special phrase on her character profile: “ **Kanan is proud of her nice body”.  
** She frowned; she knew she wasn’t the typical energetic Seiyuu, but clearly, she was not chosen for her “nice body”. Even if she was doing a strict diet for the sake of the audition, but still, she hasn’t _that_ “nice body”. 

“For example, despite all the amazing attributes and skills, Komiya-san fit perfectly with the character of Kurosawa Dia physically speaking, while Suzuki-san has an amazing voice, she has that irreverent humor we are looking for Ohara Mari”  
  
Arisha nodded, it seems like she knew that, while Ainya just made a sound of surprise.              
“At the end, we want that every fan who thinks about your character thinks about you too.”  
Everyone in the room nod.  
Suddenly the door was opened and two more people entered, the chief of the staff introduce them as the art director-character designer and the screenwriter, basically the masters’ minds behind these characters. 

 

After some strenuous hours of intense insight about the project, every girl practical knew her role in the Love Live! Franchise. Or at least the basic.

They learned that the story will be centered first on the 2nd years' girls, just like their predecessors, on the Shizuoka province, in Numazu.

And the plot will be, “9 girls saving their school for merging in with another school and avoid its closing ” (just like their predecessors) and in time, the leader, Takami Chika, will recruit the 8 other girls in order to, save this “Uranohoshi girls high school”.  
So far, nothing really new for them.

They learned that this Takami Chika, is a second year, bored to be a normal girl and obsessed with school idols, tried to get her friends to make a group of her own following what μ’s did.  
She recruits Watanabe You, her childhood friend, also a second year, who is really energetic and athletic. On the other hand, a second year, Sakurauchi Riko, a prodigy of the piano, was a transfer student from no other school than “Otonokizaka High School” (where their predecessors were) and she thinks as a plain person herself.  
Soon the first years will be following Chika’s crazy idea, with Kurosawa Ruby, a crybaby fan of idols (and μ’s of course) with her childhood friend, Kunikida Hanamaru, a nerd mouse library girl fan of books and old fashion style, that ends her sentences with the word “zura”, and with a weird girl with _Chuunibyou_ issues, called Tsushima Yoshiko, but refers to herself as Yohane, “the fallen angel”.    
So far, this looked very, very familiar too. 

Of course, this project has a 3rd years group too, Matsuura Kanan, a childhood friend of Chika and You, who works and help on her family diving shop, the strict student council president, Kurosawa Dia, Ruby’s old sister and Ohara Mari, an American-Italian girl with a twisted sense of humor. 

No more details about the poor 3rd years.  
For Nanaka, Arisa and Aina were a little bit disappointed. 

For them, just some charm points for their characters; Kanan was obsessed with diving and her muscles, but is a very straightforward girl and caring about her friends. Dia was a strict and serious person, but a loving big sister and Mari speak bad English between sentences.  (Aina laughed like an old man about that)

 

At the end, the chief of staff spoke to the girls about what’s next, of course, their first song was already written and their next meeting will be in the studio with the producer and the sound producer (and maybe with more people of the staff) to finally give the right tone to the character. 

Also, they will be dividing them into years groups. It’s difficult to work with the 9 of them, so they will be dividing them into a group of three according to their characters school years.  For some reasons, Nanaka was a little bit sad about this.  
  
He revealed that they would be holding a nationwide shop campaign, to promote the release of their first single in October. ( A single that they haven’t even heard or made yet). 

And lastly…

“ Well, I believe that’s for future projects, let’s focus on “the now”….”  
he said every girl focused on him.  
“…We want this to be a project that can be felt as a "very close project with the fans”, with your predecessor we couldn’t do it right, because, we didn’t know how it will end, and at that time the social media wasn’t something that trendy, but now we will do it right from the very beginning; we want from each of you to create a Twitter account, that’s mandatory, if you want you can create another account on other social media, but Twitter is a must.”  
He stopped to see something in his notes.  
“…Yes, Takatsuki-San…” King opened her eyes and says a soft “yes”.             
“…We need you to close your actual account once your role on this project is revealed, and that’s for all of you”.

Everybody nodded.

“ Well, remember, you are going to be “Idols” now, you don’t have private life anymore, once you are revealed to the world you will lose that, you will have to act and perform as the idols the fans want to see, you will have to act as your character demand you to act.  
If you have any questions about this issue please go and read your contract agreement, I believe it's in those papers you have over there, read it carefully, if you want to quit, or you are not ok with the agreements this is your chance to go, for those of you that agrees with it, please come to our next meeting with the contract signed. Please do your best." 

With all the information that was required, the chief said goodbye, and he left the room with the woman of the folders, the art director-character designer, and the screenwriter.

“ WAAAA…..” Said Anchan after they left “I feel so drained out!” She dropped herself on top of the table             
“There are times like that, aren’t there?” Said Aiai with a tired but funny tone   
“You say that quite a lot, haven’t you?”  
Shuka mocked Aiai phrase with a grin while taking her papers into her light blue folder. Aiai just whined something that Nanaka couldn’t hear; her attention was in what Anchan was mumbling about.          
“I have serious doubts about being the leader…” Anchan said sitting straight once again while massaging her temples.  
“… How am I supposed to act? I think this is too much…”  
  
Nanaka just wore a worried expression, if the “leader” was troubled, then what was left for the rest of them. Yes, was a lot of information to take in, but this is their job, and everybody signs for it. Maybe the staff was wrong choosing someone that young for the role?

“Man, I think that nothing on this project is brand new, just “us”, and that bothers me.” Said an annoyed Arisa looking at Rikyako, she shared a concerned look with her.

“You are right, how are we supposed to step out of μ’s shadow, if almost everything it's similar…”  
Rikyako said with a sad smile while standing up to go where Anchan was.  
Nanaka agreed with their thoughts actually, almost everything they learned today was really familiar; the plot of the story, the 9 characters, the only thing that was new to them was the location and themselves.

“...Maybe I should ask the fans about the nickname, what do you think Osuwa-san?”  
Nanaka blinked out her thoughts and saw a smiling Shuka by her side, with a wide grin             
“Sorry, what?”  
Said opening her eyes and lifting her eyebrows, she wasn’t listening at all. Shuka just giggled and smiled again.              
“I wonder if I should ask the fans to pick my nickname, you know, on the social media”              
“What’s wrong with “Shukashuu”? You don’t like it?”               
“Oh, I like it, but I want to be more in touch with the fans, as the chief of staff said, we have to be closer.... but…” Suddenly her smile faded away  
“…actually, no one knows me, so it doesn’t matter”.  
Shuka faked a smile, but she didn’t fool Nanaka.   
  
“Yet,”  
Nanaka said with a sweet smile. Shuka looked at her in awe.  
“No one knows you yet, but that it's about to change”  
  
Nanaka stood up with her papers and folder in hand and took a look at the table, the room, her fellow companions. Anchan was being comforted by Rikako, King was vividly talking with Arisa and Aiai, on the other side of the room, Aina was laughing with Aikyan, and then she returned to Shuka and smile.  
Took a deep breath and with a sweet tone in her voice, she said...

“Maybe no one knows any of us yet, but they will, we are all young and inexperienced, that’s why they are preparing us for all this time ahead , even if μ’s hasn’t finished their activities, even if maybe this “fans” you are talking about, might hate us in the beginning, because they will, we all are fans of μ’s after all, and it’s gonna be hard for them to see their lovely idols say goodbye and being replaced by a bunch of inexperienced girls, everything is a big “if”, and it’s ok to doubt about it, we all are, but this is “us” now. We have to concentrate on what we want to be as a group in the future, the “us” of the future, and that’s a “yet”, no one knows “us” yet, and believe me when they get to know you, they will love you.”

She gave Shuka a sweet smile; she could see some tears gathering in the corner of her eyes and trying so hard not to let them fall to her cheeks. Then she realized that the room became silent.

“Ahhh Suwawa~!!” Aina whined breaking the silence also tearing and coming closer to them, she grabbed Nanaka’s left arm “ That’s…that’s so sweet!”

Nanaka blinked, seeing Aina so close, and so emotional. Shuka grabbed her right arm; she blinked again.  
What was happening here?  
She could feel her cheeks turning red. She turned her head to see the rest of the quiet room. Everybody was staring at them, mostly in awe, but with smiles on her face.

“What you said…makes total sense,” Arisa said,

 “I think you are right,”  
Aikyan said with a serious tone, weird for Nanaka to hear from her.                 
“That’s what a leader should sound like…”  
Said Aiai in a mocking tone looking at Anchan with a grin.  
“Hey!” Anchan pouted

Everybody giggled about that, Nanaka opened her eyes wide, she loses herself from the two girls grabbing her arms, then she turned to Anchan; her cheeks red as a tomato.

 “I’m sorry Ann-chan, didn’t mean that!”

“Mou!”  
Said Anchan pouting and looking at Aiai who was laughing, and then she turned to Nanaka and gives her a smile  
“Don’t worry, you were right. Thank you”  
Nanaka was about to speak, but a voice that none of them had ever heard spoke at the back of the room.

“That was beautiful girls”  
The woman with the notebook, the one who was long forgotten from the beginning of the meeting stood up from her chair and walked towards them with a big smile on her face, notebook, and pen in hand, everybody was silent watching her.    
“I think I have everything I needed to see for today, thank you very much, and do your best!”

With that, she left the room.

_Creep_

For a long full minute, everybody looked each other in silence.  
Suddenly they all broke into a wide and noisy laughter.  
  
For the next minutes, everybody enjoyed just to be there, like normal girls laughing with friends.  
As for Nanaka, she felt that somehow she gained some “respect” form her fellow companions with that little speech. So far her interactions with the group have been smooth, quiet quotes and silent glances towards them. She wasn’t funny like the “first years” or a dorky one like Shuka or Anchan, her faces wasn’t funny as Aida-san or Komiya-san, also she wasn’t as sharp as Arisa or that experienced, Arisa Komiya was indeed a true professional in this industry that makes them look as little girls playing to be an Idol.

She felt that she didn’t stand out in the group, but maybe that was a little too early statement to make, this was their second meeting after all, but with that speech, she gained some points.

  

Soon they started leaving the room, to fulfill their personal schedules, not before leaving the building, Shuka catches Nanaka shyly grabbing her arm again.

“What?”  
She said in a goofy tone, not trying to sound harsh, she turned and gave her a smile.

“Eto…Thank you...” Shuka said shyly, her cheeks turning red.

“You are welcome” Nanaka give her full teeth smile.

“ I think you are not like me, an unknown person…” Shuka said shyly and troubled to mumble her words, Nanaka erased her smile and looked at Shuka with concern  
“...You are a radio personality, have other Seiyuu jobs...You are not like me, or Aiai, or...” Nanaka interrupted her with one finger on her lips.

“Stop.”  She said coldly, Shuka stopped and blinked. “Stop that.”

Nanaka took her finger off Shuka’s lips, took a breath for the second time in less than 15 minutes and smiled.

“Shuka-chan, I’m just like you, we all are, stop that self-pity, it’s not going to take you anywhere, this is your debut in the Seiyuu industry like it’s mine in the “idol” industry, and for the rest of them it’s their debut in something too, we all are the same, and we all be growing in this journey together …”    
Shuka smiled, cheeks turning red again.

“Why aren’t you the leader?” Shuka said mocking her, Nanaka just snorted

“Seriously?”

They looked each other without saying anything;  
Nanaka thought that was a joke.  
How could she really be a leader? Was Shuka making fool of her? But she sounded quite serious. She questioned Anchan abilities to be the so famous “leader” thing, but then again, was that really important? If they were meant to make a group, they will be treated as equals, like their predecessors were.  
Of course, this was their second meeting, she doesn't know them well enough to make an opinion of how good it’s going to be Anchan’s leadership, she is one of the youngest among them, why didn’t gave that responsibility to Aida-san for example (being the oldest) or to Arisa (being the experienced one).  
No, they gave the main role to Anchan for God knows the reason, if the staff chosen her, that means something.  
And you bear it.

She blinked and then smiled sweetly at Shuka; she grabbed her bag tightly.

“I don’t have the energy that requires, I think Anchan fit that spot quite well, she will learn eventually how to do it; I have the pretty words, but I lack energy.”  
She giggled about it, but Shuka gave her a sad smile.

“Suwawa, why did you want this role?”  
Was something in Shuka’s tone that makes Nanaka sad, after all, this was something she never imagined doing; an “Idol”.  
She lacks energy, she is calm, she is quiet, she is the opposite item in the Seiyuu industry, yet she was there.

She blinked again, gave Shuka a tiny smile, and suddenly she bowed in a sign that she is leaving and saying a soft “goodbye”, She turned around.

“Because I was desperate to change myself.” 

Nanaka left the building leaving an astonish Shuka in the main entrance, once again And she left Shuka there in awe and without words.

  
.  
  
.  
  
.

\---o0o (Skip in year, 2017) ---

Certainly, leaving Shuka behind full of questions and in awe, was Nanaka's specialty.  
And not because she wanted that to happen because just happens.

She was just returning home from a promotional photoshoot for the Dengeki G's Magazine. It was a long day, and she felt really tired.   
Not only because of the long hours that took the photoshoot to be done but because she had some issues with Shuka and Aina that day.

She left her bags and stuff at the entrance of her home, too tired to tide it up, almost crawl herself to her room, to her bed, and lay flat on top of it.  
She undid her hairstyle for the third time that day, and not for pleasure issues. 

Looking at the ceiling with a bitter expression, she thought about how all this started, it was supposed to be like any job she had before, but bigger, more excited, she has never hesitated on her actions, she was always calm, diligent, gathered, almost calculating anything.  
Nerves of steel!

But now was troubled. 

At first, Shuka was like a little sister to her, she was cute of course, and she took her under her watch because Shuka was the youngest among them, and somehow, from the very beginning, meaning since the audition, Shuka felt secure with her by her side.  
Somehow the staff figured this out and makes this situation something twisted, and later on, they make it worse forcing Aina to stick her tiny being into the equation.

It made her sick.

Being the way she was, so carefree, so in her pace, of course, she hurt Shuka with all this, even if they had talked this so many times now, they still have fights, "open hearts" and delicate situations between the three of them.  
And all because of she, Suwa Nanaka, was so diligent doing her job, that she was actually doing it so well, that her personal life was sinking like the Titanic. 

Her phone rang taking her out of her Suwa world.  
Lazily she grabbed it from her pocket.  
Was a message from Aina.

 **"Suwawa are you ok?, something happened with Shukashuu? (ó** **﹏** **ò** **｡** **)"**    
  
Nanaka frowned, how good can her masquerade be? 

Lazily she answered that everything was fine, that she doesn't need to worry.  
She took a deep breath, watched the ceiling once again, blinked a few more times, took a mental note to not forget her contacts, she blinked again, and smile at the memory of that day meeting where everything started to take shape.

Shuka's shape.

  
Blinking for the last time she took her phone; opened it, then closed Aina's chat to opened Shuka's and with quick fingers typed on it.

 **"I think I can't get the new song's choreography right, would you teach me? Please~ (´**   **▽**   **`**   **ʃ**   **ƪ**   **)"**

It took like 3 minutes for Nanaka to got her answer, she couldn't help but grin about it.

 **"Sure, come tomorrow about 6 pm. I'll be looking forward to**.¡ **¡¡( •̀ ᴗ •́ )** **و** **!!!"**

\--0oo0--

 

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One day in the "idol world", not everything is Sunshine and rainbows.  
> Let's continue the journey of this 9 girls in the "Idol" world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We are really sorry for the longer chapter, but there's a lot going on!  
> We hope you can enjoy it!  
> Remember!  
> \--------o0o---- (Skip year)  
> \------*oo*------- ( Skip in days)  
> \--0oo0-- (End of chapter)

Masquerade

Chapter 2.

**Hoping that everything remains the same, as you are right now it's not a sign of moving forward or of making new progress.**  
**Things have to change to improve, things have to spice up to make them more exciting.**  
  
**That’s something Nanaka knew when she started this project, and which she was desperately trying to do; to change everything, to change herself.**  
  
**So hoping that everything remains the way it is was only a utopian idea.**  
  
**Things have to change for the sake of moving forward, even if that brings chaos.**  
  


\------*o( Skip in days) o*-------

  
  
Today it is supposed to be a busy day.  
It started really early for Nanaka, Aina, and Arisa; they had scheduled an early session to record, which of course took longer than what any of them expected.  
For Nanaka was even harder due to her muscles being aching all morning, and that was of course because yesterday evening she was at Shuka's place practicing the new choreography until late at night.  
The dance session sure was intense and with a lot of physical efforts, but what was giving Nanaka more trouble was the psychological efforts of guilt.  
They not only had a dance practice session but had to expose their feelings out to sort of clarify the "Aina situation", and making Shuka be more confident about their relationship.  
  
After lunch they had dance practice with all Aqours members; a new Live was around the corner and they were practicing almost every day to fulfill the production expectations.  
Nanaka entered the practice room with Aina, of course, that gained a full discomfort glare from Shuka. While Aina entered so cheerfully and noisy as always, Nanaka entered feeling tired already.  
She shared some gazes with Shuka; she was sitting on the floor with King, Aikyan, Aiai, and Anchan, they seemed so immerse in Anchan's phone; Aina approached them almost running and shouting a big "Hello! Whatcha doing?!"  
They started murmuring something; Nanaka just passed thru them to leave her bag and stuff on a chair at the end of the room.

  
"Hey O-Suwa!" called Anchan, Nanaka turned her head to see them with a concerned look. At the beginning was just Shuka calling her like that, but later all Aqours members started calling her in that way, not knowing exactly why.  
"Come here, we need your opinion," said Anchan waiving, Nanaka walked to them in her slow pace as always  
"For today you know," said Aiai with a bit of bitterness, the others just giggled, they know that Suwa was slow.  
"What is it?" Nanaka asked  
"I got this earlier, we were wondering what would mean; what do you think?"  
Anchan said giving Nanaka her phone, she picked it up, shared a look with Anchan then Shuka and later her eyes glued to the door because Arisa was coming in with Rikako; everybody greeted them, the pair also looked at the group with curious eyes and approached them.  
"What's going on?" asked Arisa  
"O-Suwa-san is going to give us her opinion," said Aikyan.

  
Suwa Nanaka was known by her fellow members to be someone mature, serious and demure. Her opinions were well respected among them, so it wasn’t a surprise if they were asking her opinion on something.  
Before anyone could say anything else, Nanaka looked the phone; it was an email sent by Anchan's manager, it said something about a new Love Live! SIF project; Nanaka scrolled down to see a picture. The picture had 3 anime girls well distinguish and she actually recognized them as 'N girls' of the game but also had 6 anime girls silhouettes. She rosed her eyebrows.  
"So, what do you think?" asked Shuka  
"What is it?" said Arisa asking for the phone, Nanaka gave it to her and Rikyako for them to see it too.  
"Our replacements" Nanaka deadpan sentenced.  
  
Arisa almost dropped Anchan's phone, Aina gave them a loud scream, Shuka’s smile faded, "First years" made some weird noises, Anchan and Rikyako shared concerned looks.  
Nanaka just stayed in silence, with her 'Suwa face', like if it was the most normal thing to say.  
"Why did you ask her?" said Aiai whining and standing up  
"Why not?," said Anchan standing as well, everybody followed thru; Arisa gave Anchan her phone back.  
“It’s O-Suwa’s opinion”  
"She is cruel," said Aikyan  
"Why would they replace us?!" said King with concern  
"We can't be replaced, we are not that old!" said Rikyako trying to maintain her calm  
"Speak for yourself," said Aikyan  
"What do you mean with that?" said an offended Rikyako  
"We just finished our first Live guys! There's no way they are already replacing us" said a mature Arisa trying to keep things in a low tone, but her attempts were in vain, suddenly the room was full of noise.  
Nanaka watched this in silence; this was chaos.  
  
She sighed, turned over her heels and returned to her chair where her stuff was; she started to take off her jersey and got ready to start the practice.  
  
Maybe this was what μ’s felt when they knew that they will be replaced? She thought, of course for them was different, they were in a different position back then, they had at least 4 years on this, lots of live performance and at least 4 one man Lives, maybe 5 if they realized later, but they still had 6 solo Lives, that means 6 years in business.  
  
"Guys! This is not confirmed yet! We can't be sure, it can be anything" said Anchan trying to bring calm to the room and trying to do her "leader" thing.  
Soon the room was quieter, people started to get more calm about it.  
Suddenly the choreographer came in, and that ended everything; people started to get ready for practice.  
  
"How can you bring such chaos to us and be so fine with it?" said Shuka leaving her jersey on the chair next to Nanaka's and standing beside her.  
"They asked my opinion, and that was it," Nanaka said in her neutral tone while watching how everyone was taking their respective places on the practice room, getting ready to start; they shared some looks with her.  
"Nothing can stay the same, if you believe that we will be here forever you are wrong, eventually we will be replaced, maybe those characters are not our replacements right now, but sure we will share some screen with them, whoever they are" she said stretching her arms; she shared some glances with Anchan, giving her a cue.  
Anchan started once again to give them the "leader speech" to lift their spirits and have a nice and profit practice.  
  
Nanaka smiled, of course, she did that on propose; for Anchan the leader thing was important and she grew to be one flawlessly.  
But of course, this wasn't always like that.  
While the music was starting and the practice was beginning, she remembered how everything was back then, when they were starting to be the replacements of μ’s.  
  


\--------o0o (Skip in year, 2015)----

  
  
That day sure was going to be a busy one.  
On her schedule was marked as a full day job at the Lantis Building.  
The project Sunshine has launched a few weeks ago with the key visual of Chika-Chan standing with a cheerful expression on a beach of Numazu with the “Save, Love Live!” written on top of the key visual.  
The other 8 characters were still a mystery for the fans; they will be appearing on May issue of the Dengeki G magazine, and the official line up of the voice actress will be on the issue after that, on June.  
That meant that they still have the chance to back off on this job if this was too much.  
  
Of course, that wasn't the case of Suwa Nanaka.  
Being already a seiyuu and radio personality gave her that confidence that she will nail this kind of "audition" and she will bring "Kanan" life without a doubt.  
Today it was supposed to be the meeting with the producer and the sound director for a voice check. 

This was important, and it felt like an audition, today they would be tested as Seiyuus to find the right tone for their characters.  
Until this meeting they were gathered into groups of three according to the character's school years to get more insights of the characters and the project itself; unfortunately "Thirds years" were hard to work with for two reasons, one; their profiles and background stories where still in development, and two; Arisa Komiya and Suzuki Aina where too busy with their tight schedules.  
As for Nanaka, she had studied 5 different ways to portray Kanan and memorize her background story; she felt ready.  
  
So she came early that morning, walking in her slow pace, but confident, today sure was going to be a good day.

  
She entered in the conference room greeting her fellow companions and some people from the staff; Inami Anju, Furihata Ai, Saito Shuka and Takatsuki Kanako were already there, and so the two chief's of staff assistants.  
"Morning Suwa-san, here's the schedule for today activities, please take a seat."  
One of the assistants gave her more sheets of papers, while the other one, of course, was seated on the back already taking notes.  
  
_Creepy!_  
  
Nanaka walked towards her fellow members; they were concentrated on their papers, no one said a word. Nanaka couldn't help but noticed some big changes on Shuka, she smiled at her, Shuka unglued her sight of the papers meeting their gazes and friendly greeted her.  
  
"O-Suwa-san!" she said with full teeth smile, she offered her seat beside her.  
"Morning, Shukashuu," she said in her singsong voice, somehow she felt happy. She took the seat that she was offered.  
"No glasses today," said Aiai with a giggle, Nanaka didn't pay any mind.  
"Love your haircut," said Nanaka smiling, Shuka responded with full teeth smile.  
"Really?"  
She asked with a sweet tone and started touching her hair.  
  
Her long black hair was cut at her shoulder level, much similar to "You-chan's" length.  
Shuka gives her a coy smile.  
Nanaka hummed.  
  
"You sure look like a doll..."  
Said Shuka with kind eyes. Of course, Nanaka was with her girly outfit as per usual, while Shuka was with her worn jeans, and leader jacket.  
"You look like a rock star," Said Nanaka without thinking.  
"What's with this? Are you two flirting?" said King smiling, Shuka just laugh nervously, while Nanaka didn't pay any mind either and glued her sight to her schedule. She could felt that Shuka was uneasy in her chair.  
  
Later the rest of the members arrived, Aina came with Aikyan, while Arisa and Rikako entered with the chief of staff; he looked a bit warmed up.  
  
"Morning ladies," he said with his characteristic harsh tone, everybody greeted him,  
"Today it's an important day; it's the day when you characters finally will come to life, so look forward to it. "  
  
Nanaka noticed Shuka was getting nervous, and started playing with her pen. Nanaka peeked over the table to see her fellow companions, everybody seemed nervous, she started to wonder if it was ok for her to be so calm. She returned her attention to the chief of staff.  
  
"It had been a real challenge to fit the characters for you and vice versa. We really want you to be like your characters, or your characters to full fill your personality," he said, he seemed concerned about that.  
"It's not easy to create a character with something in mind, and the Seiyuu not being up to the task because of her personality..."  
Nanaka could hear everybody swallowing hard  
  
"For example," he said while searching in his folder for something  
"I was informed that Inami Anju-san was doubting on her leadership skills..." he said looking at Anchan.  
She just cringed in her chair, her cheeks slightly red.  
Nanaka swallowed hard and took a quick peek at the end of the room to see the creepy assistant taking notes.  
That was her job, she figured out, she was a spy for the staff, everything that was happening she was putting in into her notes, and maybe on a personal level.   
Nanaka narrowed her eyes, that was really creepy.  
  
"We don't want 'Chika-chan' to doubt about her leadership skills, won't we? so in order to fix that, we made some arrangements on her presentation card; reaffirming her condition of leader. Will you be up for the task Inami- san?"  
Anchan couldn't say a word, she just nodded and give him a coy smile.  
  
Nanaka felt a pinch in her stomach, she was starting to felt nervous, but her nervousness was overcome by the nerves of Shuka at her side.  
She didn't think about it; she just lowered her hand under the table and rested her hand on Shuka's thighs. Shuka gave her a surprised look; her eyes opened wide, Nanaka just smiled at her.  
  
"Don't worry," she whispered " You will do it great"  
Shuka smiled back, she left her pen and lowered her hand to grab Nanaka's; Nanaka just squeezed it softly.  
  
"So, enough with this, let's begin!," the chief of staff said," I'll be on the room across the hall with the producer, Masashi Hirayama, the director Kazuo Sakai, the sound director Nagasaki Yukio and of course the creator Sakurako Kimino"  
He smiled at them, and maybe everyone gave him a panic glared in return.  
"Do your best!"  
  
With that said he left the room, and the other assistant took the word; folder in hand.  
"Ok, we will be calling you one by one to perform," she searched for a name in her folder.  
"Of course we will start with the leader," she said looking at Anchan, she just nodded.  
"Inami Anju-san, come with me"  
Anchan mumbled some words that only Aiai and King could hear; they giggled.  
"Next will be Komiya Arisa, be ready," said the assistant, Arisa just nodded; she looked just fine.  
  
Anchan and the assistant left the room; silence hung thick in the air.  


Being the leader sure was troublesome, Nanaka thought, somehow she felt relieved of her lack of energy and to had decided that "Kanan" was her best option for this project.  
  
Soon she was brought out of her "Suwa World", Shuka was trembling under her hand, she gave her a concerned look.  
"There are times like that, aren't there?"  
Said Aiai with her characteristic tone trying to break the silence and the uneasy feeling of the room.   
Every sight was on Aiai this time, but no one laugh.  
  
"What?" she asked surprised "no one is going to say something?"  
"You are like the mascot," said King giggling, that sure made some of them smiled.  
"That its pressure," said Aikyan putting her papers away ignoring Aiai's comment  
"It's like having the audition all over again," said Rikako standing up  
"Hey! Don't ignore me" whined Aiai  
"I need to concentrate and you make too much noise," said Rikako moving to the other side of the room.  
Aiai looked offended; King stood up and face Rikako  
"That was rude Aida-san," she said, Rikako just glare at them and followed thru to the other side of the room  
"Wow," said Aikyan  
"Don't mind her," said Arisa with a tired tone, she was focused on her papers, she didn't even bother to look at them while talking  
"She is just nervous"  
  
Aiai snorted and looked at Aikyan, both stood too, it seems that the first years had already a bond between them, so they started talking with each other quietly, even if that was a surprise.  
  
What it was a surprise, it was that Aina was quiet too, she was there sat in front of Arisa, giving for what it seems the fourth time a full read of her papers.  
Everybody was really nervous.  
  
She realized that Shuka tightened her grip on her hand.  
"Shukashuu" called Nanaka, Shuka just faked a smile.  
"You don't need to be nervous," said Nanaka with a sweet tone, Shuka's smile faded, she gives her a sad look instead.  
"I am nervous, this is my first time as a Seiyuu, I need to do this right" She suddenly stood up leaving Nanaka's hand, Nanaka couldn't help but made a sad expression about it.  
Aina left her papers to look at them, Nanaka shared a concerned look with her; Aina just smiled at her.  
Shuka started to walk in circles into the conference room mumbling something that Nanaka couldn't hear.  
She returned her sight to the table, it seems that "Third years" were the ones left and the ones that weren't nervous at all. Or at least they don't seem to be.  
  
Nanaka tried to focus her attention on her papers, but she couldn't concentrate at all; Shuka's behavior was distracting, she felt really worried about her.  
"You should talk to her," suddenly she heard a soft voice across the table, she lifted her sight to see Aina smiling.  
"It's pretty clear you are worried about her," she said giving Shuka a look, Shuka was walking with her papers in hand, closing and opening her eyes, trying to memorize something.  
"I tried..." said Nanaka with a sad tone  
"Try harder." said coldly Arisa putting her papers down and looking at Nanaka with her expressive eyes.  
  
Aina smiled at Arisa.  
“Are you worried too?" she said in a teasing tone.  
Arisa just sighed and with a tired tone said,  
“I'm not used to work in group; there are nine of us, our "leader" is not here and she also had second thoughts about her leadership; the older of us it's too nervous and too self-centered to actually see what's going on with her fellow year member; "First years" are in their own world and the last thing we need is the youngest of us to collapse here"  
Arisa stood up.  
  
Suddenly the door was opened and Anchan walked thru it with a big smile, the assistant close behind.  
Arisa cleared her throat.  
"I don't see Suzuki-san close enough with Saito-san for her to calm her," she said looking at Nanaka " I believe you can do it, besides, it's not good for the group environment the uneasy feeling she is giving with that behavior"  
  
Arisa left the room, the assistant stood in the door frame and called,  
"Next one will be Suwa Nanaka-san, please be ready"  
Then she left the room.  
  
Anchan was bothered with lots of questions from "First years", suddenly the room became loud again; Rikako looked bothered with all the fuss, Shuka didn't felt any better when she heard Anchan experience. Aina and Nanaka shared some looks.  
"Just do it," said finally Aina standing up "Maybe you are the closest to her"  
Nanaka shook her head  
"I believe that's Anju," Nanaka said with a sad tone,  
"Don't be silly," said Aina with one of her teasing tones" she is too busy right now to help her anyway," she said looking at a happy Anchan talking so vividly with "First years".  
  
Nanaka looked up for Shuka, indeed she was in distressed, she left her papers on the top of the table and started walking to the other side of the room.  
Nanaka took a glimpse to Aina; she smiled back and winked  
"Do it!" she said with a happy tone, then she walked toward Aikyan to hear closely what Anchan was talking about.  
  
Nanaka took a deep breath and looked up for Shuka again, she was close to the creepy assistant.  
Nanaka frowned, whatever she is going to tell or do now, will be " in the notebook".  
She sighed,  
  
_Well, it can't be helped._

  
Nanaka stood up, took another breath, and called her,  
"Shuka-chan"  
Shuka stopped her steps, Nanaka walked toward her, Shuka turned to face her.  
"I'm sorry O-Suwa-san, I can't,  I ---" Shuka was cut off.  Her eyes widen like two fried eggs in surprise, she froze and couldn't believe what was happening, nether Nanaka; she didn't know why or how she does it, but she just did it, for a moment the room felt in complete silence.  
  
Nanaka was hugging Shuka so tight, but yet so lovely, that it seemed that all Shuka's doubts and fears were gone.  
"Suwawa..." whispered Aina in the distant; Nanaka rubbed Shuka's back gently  
"it's gonna be ok Shuka-chan, "Nanaka said in her ear" You don't need to worry..."  
"Suwawa " whined Shuka  
  
Nanaka smiled, then she separated herself from her, and looked at her right in the eyes.  
"Listen, you already passed the audition, there's nothing to be afraid now, you are here, the role is yours, and you will be just fine"  
She gave her a coy smile; Shuka's smile was gone and replaced with few tears running from her cheeks. Nanaka cleaned her tears with her fingers and gave her another smile.  
"You will be fine" she repeated herself; Shuka took a deep breath holding her tears and nodding.  
"Good~," She said using her singsong tone.  
"Thank you..." Shuka said in a small voice; both realizing that the room was awkwardly quiet, they turned to face their fellow members.  
  
"What's that you two?!" asked Anchan loud and giggling  
"Awwwww~!" shouted Aina and then she started laughing like an old man; Shuka just stiffed herself and grab Nanaka's arm, Nanaka blinked in surprise.  
"Actually that was cute," said Aiai  
"Those two are really flirting with each other" added King  
"No kidding," said Aikyan  
Nanaka remained in silence; Shuka's grip on her arm was becoming a bit painful, and she could felt her cheeks becoming red, even if she tried so hard to be with her “Suwa face”.  
"Awww you should be glad that we had Suwa-san with us, don't you Shu-chan?!" said Anchan with a smile and teasing tone, everybody just nodded.  
  
Shuka couldn't say anything in return because at that moment the door was opened once again with Arisa coming back inside; she had a very satisfying grin on her face. That meant that it was Nanaka's turn to "perform".  
  
"Shukashuu, I'm gonna need my arm back," said Nanaka with her calm voice.  
"Oh, ...yeah," she said letting her arm go, Nanaka smiled and left her.  
"Do your best!" said Shuka with a full teeth smile, Nanaka turned her head and smiled back; she took her folder and went to the exit door.  
She shared some glances with Arisa, for a moment she could feel a cold running from her spine.  


She was crossing the hall towards the new room; when she heard the assistant saying that the next one will be Shuka.  
  
She entered the room; she could immediately felt the dense atmosphere.  
Everybody was sat on the back of the room with their folders and pens in hand. In the middle of the room was a small table.  
  
"Please come in," said the chief of staff moving his hand showing Nanaka to go to the small table.  
"You can leave your folder there," he said in his harsh tone.  
Nanaka did what she was told, and took her time to examine her "judges".  
The directors, producer and the creator seemed serious.  
The assistant closed the door behind her, making her jump a bit; she shared a nervous smile.

  
_This is worse than the audition._

  
Each of the "judges" introduced themselves; Nanaka swallowed.  
"Please, introduce yourself and your role," said the chief of staff  
"I'm Suwa Nanaka, I'm voicing ‘Matsuura Kanan’"  
She tried to be confident in her words, but she couldn't be helped but felt nervous, it seems that all of her earlier confidence jumped out of the window.  
  
She saw each of the "judges" writing something on their folders.  
The assistant approached her with a new sheet of paper; Nanaka bowed while saying "thank you".  
  
"Would you say those lines please?" the chief of staff said, " it's ‘Kanan-chan's’ introduction".  
"Yes..." said Nanaka softly.  
Nanaka saw her paper, it was just a paragraph; she caught herself shaking, what was going on with her?  
She cleared her voice and started reading in her ‘Kanan’ voice.  
  
It took her like a minute to read it.  
When she finished she looked up to see her “judges”; the five of them were looking at her in an indescribable way.  
She frowned.  
  
"Are you ok Suwa-san?" Sakurako Kimino, the creator, asked with concern.  
Nanaka couldn't say anything, she just nodded in response.  
"Can you read it again?" asked Masashi Hirayama, the producer; Nanaka looked at the chief of staff, he was pale.  
“Yes of course, " said Nanaka softly; then she realized that her voice was cracking out. She was so damn nervous that her voice was betraying her.  
She cleared her voice once again, and read her lines with her ‘Kanan’ voice.  
  
Another minute passed.  
She looked up to see their "judges"; she saw them sharing some concerned looks which each other.  
"Suwa-San," said Kazuo Sakai, the director "can you read it more straightforward?"  
Nanaka nodded and started reading it once again with a new ‘Kanan’ voice.  
A full minute passed.  
When she finished, she saw the sound producer, Nagasaki Yukio, shaking his head.  
  
_This is bad, this is bad, this is bad_

  
"I'm sorry, can you do it again?" asked Sakurako Kimino again. Nanaka tightened her lips and tried to be calm.  
She read it again.  
  
Another full minute passed. This was her fifth time doing it, and her 5 different ‘Kanan’ voices already done.  
Kazuo Sakai was massaging his temples; Sakurako Kimino was looking at her with a sad expression, Masashi Hirayama was writing something on his folder, but he didn't look happy, the chief of staff was hiding his face behind his hands and Nagasaki Yukio was still shaking his head.  
Nanaka stiffed herself; this was bad.  
  
"Ok it's enough," said Kazuo Sakai with a hard tone. He looked at the chief of staff.  
"Give me her profile"  
Nanaka's heart started to race; the chief of staff was searching for the folder profile and what it felt like a lifetime he finally gave it to him.  
  
While he was reading Nanaka's profile, she was standing there in the middle of the room, with her heart on her throat, her fits tightened and making all of her human efforts for not start crying there in front of everyone.  
  
_I failed..._

  
"So, " Kazuo Sakai started" she is already a Seiyuu and a radio personality"  
"Maybe she is just nervous" added Sakurako Kimino looking at him  
"Maybe..." he said but didn't take his eyes out of her profile  
"It doesn't sound like the ‘Kanan’ we designed," said Nagasaki Yukio, the sound producer; Nanaka started sweating cold.  
Masashi Hirayama just hummed.  
"The ‘Kanan’ that we designed was someone confident, straightforward but strong at the same time," said Kazuo looking at Nanaka.  
"The ‘Kanan’ that you are voicing is not confident either straightforward, " said the sound producer.  
"What about her singing skills?" asked Kimino  
"Well," Kazuo looked up at her profile" she had some experience..."  
"She was leveled as ‘Pure attribute’ " interrupted the chief of staff.  
  
Nanaka looked at him, he was as nervous as she was. The "judges" said a soft "oh"  
"‘Kanan’ was supposed to be ‘cool attribute’ said the sound producer; everybody frowned.  
"Ok ok," said Kazuo with very little patience " tell me how did Suwa-san passed the audition for ‘Matsuura Kanan’ if she was leveled as a ‘Pure attribute’ when the character's attribute was supposed to be ‘cool’ and when she was supposed to be confident and straightforward...?" he looked up to the chief of staff for answers.  
"Well, I believe there is some inconsistency on the characters backgrounds; there's one attribute per year, ‘Dia’ is ‘cool attribute’ as well, and between Komiya Arisa-san and Suwa Nanaka-san, Komiya-san worked better"  
  
Everybody was in silence; Nanaka tried to put herself together. Now not only her voice was in the matter; her whole participation in the project was being judged.  
Dammed the moment when she thought that her role for ‘Kanan’ was her best option. What the hell was she thinking?!.

  
"Well, to be fair, I think we had another ‘Suwa Nanaka-san’ on the day of the audition,"  said the chief of staff in a small voice  
"How so?" asked the producer  
  
Nanaka frowned; of course, she looked different, she was dressed as a tomboy and had "Kanan's ponytail", seems like that worked after all; right now her girly style was betraying her.  
  
"She looked a bit like ‘Kanan’ I guess?" said the chief of staff  
"How?! ‘Kanan’ it's a Tomboy! this girl looks like a doll" asked loud the director; he even dropped Nanaka's profile over his table. Nanaka jumped in her place for the surprise reaction, while the other judges looked at him in awe. The chief of staff just cringed on his chair.

  
_What the hell is going on?!_  
  
Kazuo looked at his fellow "judge" members,  
"If I recall, ‘Kanan’ was supposed to be the leader of the ‘Third years’, fearless, confident and energetic. She is the one who makes the important decisions, It's ‘Kanan’ who drags ‘Dia’ to meet the foreigner new student, and the one who drags ‘Mari’ and ‘Dia’ to be school idols, I am right?" he asked with a bit of bitterness  
Kimino Sakurako nodded in response; Nanaka thought that they had spoiled the whole story, none of that was in her papers, how was she supposed to know all of that?.  
  
"Then, because of her former leadership with the third years, it's why we thought that she should be the leader of one of the subunits," he said looking for support on the producer and the sound director, both nodded in response.  
"But you tell me that this girl was leveled as ‘Pure attribute’, I'm sorry but that doesn't feel right, it should be a ‘Cool attribute’, because ‘Kanan’ was supposed to be a cool character; like ‘Ayase Eli’ and I'm sorry, but this girl doesn't give me that ‘vibe’”.  
He sounded really annoyed  
  
"Her voice reminded me of ‘Toujo Nozomi’" said Kimino Sakurako giggling  
"Yeah, I thought that too," said Yukio, the sound director smiling at Kimino Sakurako as if was a big discovery.  
"’Mari’ is our new ‘Nozomi’, " said Kazuo" assuming that ‘Mari’ is our ‘Smile attribute’ Am I right?" said Kazuo looking for the chief of staff  
"Yes, you are right"  
Kazuo rubbed his temples.  
  
"What should we do?" asked the producer  
"I'm sorry, but this doesn't feel right; the ‘Kanan’ that I imagined had another voice"  
"Wait wait" said Kimino trying to calm Kazuo down, " Don't lose your perspective; this isn't Love Live!, this is Love Live Sunshine, these are different characters, and you are pissed because you wanted another ‘Eli-chan’, and we can't have another ‘Eli-chan’, we have a new ‘Kanan’" she said smiling,  
"I'm sure there's something usefully to work with"  
She finished her sentence looking at the assistant at the door; the assistant nodded and left the room.  
  
"You know, with the ‘leader’ issue we could work something out," said the producer  
"it was simply to add a few lines on ‘Chika's’ profile and making Inami Anju-san the leader; in the end, they even look alike, but here..."  
"That's why I asked how on earth could she possibly be looked like ‘Kanan’?!" said Kazuo in an annoyed tone."It's not just her voice that doesn't recall ‘Kanan’, her presence doesn't recall me at her at all".  
  
Nanaka tightened her lips and tried to be calmed; actually, she wondered that before, how can she portray a character who is so confident, full of energy, straightforward and proud of her "nice body" when she was so quiet, so demure, and with no energy at all?

Well, these people looked thru her, and now here we are.  
  
The door was opened again, and the assistant came in with a notebook in her hands; she handled it over Kimino, she said “thank you” and started searching for something.

  
For Nanaka this was a terrible situation.  
They forgot about her completely; her presence was like a ghost, they were talking about her but not with her. They were judging her right there in front of her nose and she couldn't say anything, her personality wasn't like that.  
The only thing she could do was to stand there patiently; she thought about poor Shuka being so stressed out about this and it was her the one who comforts her, and now she wishes someone to comfort her over this situation. At the end...  
  
_I'm not up for the task._

  
"What about we switch characters?" said the sound producer " We can ask Komiya-san to be ‘Kanan’, she fits the character"  
"But Suwa-san doesn't fit ‘Dia’, " said Kazuo " besides, Arisa Komiya-san looks like ‘Dia’, she was cast not only because of her vocal skills..." Kazuo looked at Nanaka  
"Here, she doesn't look like ‘Kanan’, nor had the vocals skills we need"  
The issue was very clear to Nanaka; she was the problem.  
  
"So, which is Saito Shuka's character?"  
Asked suddenly Kimino looking up from the notebook; Nanaka recognize it, it was the creepy notebook form the creepy assistant.  
"‘Watanabe You’" answered the chief of staff  
"That's a shame..." said Kimino looking down at the notebook again.  
"What? What did you find?" asked Kazuo  
“It seems that Suwa-san it's very ‘friendly’ with her, it's a pity she is not friendly enough with ‘Mari's’ seiyuu, by the way, who is it?" she said in a happy tone.  
"Suzuki Aina" answered the chief of staff.  
Kimino hummed.  
The rest just stayed in silence. Nanaka couldn't think of anything else but to beg for the world to make a hole on her feet and swallow her up.

  
"So, something useful? What are we going to do?" asked the producer  
Sakurako Kimino looked up and closed the notebook; Nanaka could saw a special spark in her eyes.  
"I'm gonna tell you what are we going to do," she said standing up, looking straight at Nanaka,  
  
" Suwa-san, you will be ‘Kanan’, I know you don't look like her or have the voice that we thought of her, but you have the caring part of her. Lets made  Komiya-san have the center position in the 'Third years', I believe she has more experience and her personality fits better to be hostess."

She handled the notebook to the assistant once again  
"About the subunits; I know we said that the leaders will be ‘Chika’, ‘Kanan’ and ‘Riko’, but I think we can skip that for now. " she smiled at Nanaka; who looked like a statue.  
"How do you feel about hugs, Suwa-san?" She asked grinning  
"Hugs?" Nanaka blinked in surprise  
"Yeah, hugs" she looked to her fellow "judges" companions; they looked puzzled too.  
Nanaka couldn't respond, she wasn't someone "caring", and this is Japan, hugging people is not something you normally do.  
  
"Well, they...are...nice? I guess..." she managed to say  
"For what I read, you are a very quiet, demure and shy person, those characteristics are not for an MC person, that's why Komiya Arisa-san it's gonna do it for you, But! You are a really caring person Suwa-san, and I think those attributes can make a wonderful ‘Kanan’, let's focus on that; Let's make ‘Kanan-chan’ more carefree, air-headed and warm towards her fellow members, you know, if they feel in distress, ‘Kanan-chan’ can just hug them to ease their fears..." Nanaka could swear she really saw Kimino's eyes lighting up  
  
"What do you mean?" said Kazuo  
"We don't need ‘Kanan’ to be so stiff Kazuo-san, we have ‘Dia’ to be like that, besides, I believe this 'personality' will blend so smooth with ‘Mari's’ personality..." she shared a malicious smile to her fellow "judge" members.  
"Ohhhh~ I see" smiled the producer; it took a moment for Kazuo and Yukio to understand, both smiled at the end and nodded with a happy grin on their faces.  
  
Nanaka was puzzled; she looked at them, Sakurako Kimino smiled at her.  
"So, Suwa-san, your voice it's really mellow, it will fit right with sad songs," she said taking her seat.  
"With all said, let's try again," she said looking at the males" let's have that in mind, a caring and hugging ‘Kanan-chan’; now, close your eyes" she demanded, the males just did what they were told. She looked up to Nanaka once again.  
"Can you read your lines in a carefree, caring but strong tone Suwa-san?" she smiled at her.  
Nanaka nodded and grabbed her paper once again.  
  
_A"hugging" Kanan eh?_  
  
She smiled, and remembered how she felt when she was comforting Shuka a while ago; sure it was a surprise for her as well, but she did it because it felt right.  
She cleared her voice for the last time, and started reading in her new, "caring and hugging" "Kanan" voice.  
  
A minute passed.  
She looked up for the sixth time over her paper just to see the 5 people in front of her smiling, eyes closed, but smiling and nodding.  
She couldn't be helped but smiled.  
  
"There you have it," said Kimino proud  
"Yes, it works," said Kazuo smiling at Kimino  
"I'm gonna rewrite ‘Kanan's’ introduction to fit your personality and voice Suwa-san, thanks so much," said Kimino writing something on her folder.  
"Ok, this settles then, " said Nagasaki Yukio looking straight to Nanaka " Don't forget this tone ok? This is ‘Kanan-chan's’ tone and voice, you will have to sing on this tone from now on"  
  
Nanaka nodded; even if it's hard, this new tone was really mellow and a bit different from her real voice.  
  
"Uf, this is gonna be a challenge," said the producer " it's a hard tone, will she be able to sing?"  
"She will have to," said Kazuo becoming serious again "and I believe no one of them is ready to sing solos yet; it's going to be like μ’s, their first single it's going to be sung by all of them."  
  
Nanaka put her new paper in her folder; she felt so drained.  
"So that's it, please call the next one," said the chief of staff looking at her assistant, she just nodded and got out of the room." Thanks, Suwa-san"  
  
With that said, Nanaka bowed and thanked for the patience and opportunity given. She was about to exit the room when Sakurako Kimino called her, she stopped and turned to her;  
"Please do your best Suwa-san; don't lose your caring part, it's gonna be very important for ‘Kanan-chan’ because I have big plans for her and ‘Mari’" Sakurako Kimino grinned at her, and Nanaka saw that spark on her eyes once again; She smiled back and bowed.  
She exited the room confused but stopped to see a smiling Shuka in front of her.  
  
"Osuwa-san! How did you go?! You seriously take your time on everything! You took soooo long!" She said with her smile and enthusiasm, who would ever believe that this girl was so nervous and crying before.

Nanaka fake her smile and with her Suwa tone said,  
“It was good, now, do your best" with that said, she moved on, letting Shuka walk into the room; closing the door behind.

  
Nanaka stood in the middle of the hall, still for what it seemed like a full minute. Her sight glued to the conference room door where everybody was waiting; she could hear all the fuss on the other side, she wondered if Rikako could ever concentrate with all that noise; then she felt weak, her legs started to tremble, cold sweat started to run from her temple and she felt the imperious need to throw up.  
She couldn't come inside that room in that condition, besides according to what Shuka said, she took a lot of time on her "performance", and everybody will be asking why, how can she explain that it was because she wasn't up to the task? How can she face Arisa now?  
That idea was enough for Nanaka to run down the hall to the nearest toilet.  
  
.  
.  
  
This industry sure was something serious; it wasn't easy to become a Seiyuu in Japan. Because the market is so saturated, you need to do the impossible to excel and even that wasn't enough.  
And Nanaka knew that.  
She had been washing her face for the last 5 minutes, in order to get rid of the tears marks on her cheeks and cleaning her red eyes. From time to time she drank water from the sink; any flavor was better than the taste of defeat, shame, and failure that she just threw down the toilet.  
She looked herself into the mirror; she can't be helped but share a sad look with her reflection.  
She couldn't go back yet; she tightened her lips.  


How could she not be prepared for this?  For the audition, she was prepared and determined to get this role, and now that she has it, she wasn't up to the task, why?; she glared at her reflexion, noticed her hair was a mess, her brown hair was even wet.  
  
_My brown hair... Why the hell is my hair still brown?! Kanan's hair is blue! And has a damn ponytail!!_

  
She hit the sink in frustration; the creators were right, she doesn't look like Kanan at all, she is not a tomboy, she doesn't have that "nice body", she lacks of energy and her voice is not what they thought it should be.  
What saved her was that creepy notebook of the creepy assistant and her gayness.  
Nanaka just facepalmed, shutting her eyes tight.  
Shuka even cut her hair to look like You's hair, why she didn't do the same?  
Nanaka took a deep breath; this wasn't the time to be asking herself that anyways, her performance was a disaster and it can't be helped now.  
She sighed and looked for a clean towel to dry her face.  
  
For a normal Seiyuu, you just have to work with your voice; in Love Live! franchise, the Seiyuu must jump out of the screen and become her character, be able to perform, sing and smile in front of a crowd, no matter what.  
  
_Damn, I will have to put on some makeup again... My bag's in the conference room..._  
  
Nanaka sighed; just to remember that she has to come back made her sick all over again.  
She felt really frustrated; she just stood there in the middle of that room receiving so much crap out of the creators and she was even compared to Komiya Arisa.  
Nanaka frowned.  
Yes, Arisa-san was the most experience among them, but still, why her?!  
Would it be better if it was another one less experience or younger? well, probably not.  
That was worse.

  
Nanaka took her folder and got out of the toilet room; she sat across the hall, she wasn't feeling prepared to return yet, but she didn't want to sit on the toilet floor.  
Maybe Arisa would have said something, she would have defended herself and would not have let their words affected her.  
Nanaka sighed again.  
Well, that's why she is going to replace Kanan's role as the leader of the "third years" ...  
  
Nanaka couldn't help but have a sad expression on her; she opened her folder where the picture of Kanan was.  
The character indeed seemed like someone confident, serious, dependable; actually was the only one of the characters that looked that determined, almost like ‘Ayase Eli’.  
Nanaka's eyes felt all watery again; the creators wanted Kanan to be a sort of a new ‘Ayase Eli’ that means that they wanted her voice to be like Nanjo Yoshino's.  
Nanaka felt dizzy again, the thought of being compared not just with Komiya Arisa but with someone so spectacular as Nanjo Yoshino was too much. She softly traces her fingers at her character's image and manages to said a soft...  
  
"I'm sorry..."  
  
"Suwawa?" said a soft voice on her right; Nanaka jumped in her seat and looked fast to the source, her eyes widen in panic, she even became paler.  
Suzuki Aina was standing there looking at her with the most pleaded eyes; once their gazes met she just looked back at Nanaka with concern.  
  
"Suzuki-san..." Nanaka said in a small voice, closing her folder.  
"Whatcha doing here?" said Aina softly  
"Toilet," said Nanaka coldly  
" No kidding~," said Aina with some funny tone, then she sat down beside her.  
  
The two of them remained in silence for what Nanaka though was forever, both looking with their gazes glued to the toilet door in front of them. Nanaka felt really uneasy.  
  
_Why is she here? What does she want? Did someone send her? She saw me talking to a picture, Maybe she thinks I'm crazy... No no, she saw me in this condition!_

  
"Was that bad?" finally Aina asked; Nanaka swallowed hard, her gaze glued to the door.  
"What?" she answered in her small voice trying to play fool.  
"Your performance..." she could felt how Aina unglued her sight out of the door to look at her  
" You were crying..."  
"Stop!"  
Nanaka cut her off, taking her sight out of the door as well and gave a serious look at Aina; she could felt a lonely tear rolling down her cheek.  
  
"What are you doing here?" Nanaka's tone was cold; Aina just blinked  
"Toilet," she said without a care in the world; Nanaka blinked, her mind went blank, she opened her mouth a few times like a fish, then she closed it and gave Aina a deadpan look  
"No kidding..." said Nanaka  
Aina just curled the tip of her lips and then exploded into her old man laughter  
Nanaka just glare the toilet door once again, like a scolded child  
"My, Suwawa you are hilarious~," Aina said clapping  
  
_What the--  
_  
"You should go to the toilet then." said coldly Nanaka; Aina stopped her laughing and clapping  
"That can wait a bit; what the hell happened?"  
Nanaka glared at Aina, and then she cleaned the lonely tear from her chin.  
  
"Nothing I guess..." Nanaka said looking somewhere else  
"You don't fool no one, but it's ok, I don't mind," Aina said changing to a more comfortable position," I'm not gonna ask what happened if you don't want to tell me"  
Nanaka remained silent for a few seconds, then she asked,  
"How did you go?"  
Aina giggled and used her old man tone,  
"Nailed it!"  
  
Nanaka frowned; of course, she will nail it she thought.  
Aina looked at her with concern and her smile faded.  
  
"You know, you shouldn't worry, I bet you did ok but you are just too stubborn and perfectionist," said getting up and walking to the toilet door.  
  
Nanaka wished that this statement was true, yes she was stubborn and a quiet perfectionist, she took her job really seriously, that's why she thought that she was gonna nailed this, but she was wrong, her performance wasn't just "ok".  
  
"Do you think I look like ‘Kanan’?" asked Nanaka with her “Suwa tone”; Aina stopped her footsteps turning and looked down at Nanaka with a serious expression.  
"Do you think I look like ‘Mari-chan’?"   
  
Nanaka opened her eyes wide and tightened her lips, Aina just laughed,  
"Of course I don't!" Aina said in a high pitch,  
" I'm not blonde~ nor tall! Actually ‘Mari-chan’ is the tallest among the characters while I'm the shortest on the cast members, and ain't gonna change my hair for that! Is this what the problem it is? Because you don't look like your character?"  
Nanaka's cheeks became slightly red; when someone says your problem back at you, sure sounds stupid.  
  
"Not just that..."  Nanaka finally spill it out on her small voice, and she looked straight at her; Aina stood there and gave her a sweet smile. Nanaka just cut herself to contemplate her, it would be stupid of her to continue keeping her worries to herself, after all, she will be stuck with these girls for several years, so it would be better to start trusting at least on one of them... And Aina looked fine trust her.  
  
"Then?..." said Aina waiting; Nanaka took a deep breath.  
"Can we keep this as a secret?" she said shyly, Aina snorted  
" **Of course~,"** said Aina in her "English" and in a hight tone, Nanaka just rose her eyebrows and her eyes became wider, Aina realized that it was weird.  
"Sorry, that's ‘Mari-chan's’ tone, she speaks like that..." she smiled  
Nanaka just frowned and started to wonder if Aina is really going to be someone trustworthy and that maybe this was a bad idea.  
  
"Ok," said Nanaka, she took a deep breath once again.  
"It's not just that I don't look like ‘Kanan’, I wasn't up to the task for her role..." she said shyly, and her eyes became watery again, she tried to control herself not to cry.  
"Oh my, Suwawa..." she said with concern, " Why? Did they tell you that? or it's your perfectionism talking?"  
Nanaka shook her head  
"They designed another ‘Kanan’, and what it seemed to be more fitted for Komiya-san than for me..."  
Aina rose her eyebrows in surprise and made a drowned sound of amazement  
" ... But of course, Komiya-san fits ‘Dia’ in all ways, she even looks like her, and she has the personality to be the ‘Third years’ leader" Nanaka's voice was full of pain  
"Uhm, that's why you asked me if you looked like ‘Kanan-chan’..." said Aina amused, Nanaka remained in silence.  
"So, what happened then? Is Arisha going to do two roles or what?"  
  
Nanaka rose her eyebrows

  
_What? Is she for real?_

"Of course not, " said Nanaka sightly annoyed " I got the role, but they kind of change it for me..."  
"Oh~" Aina manage to said.  
Both remained quietly looking at each other.  
"So what?" Aina finally said; Nanaka just rose her eyebrows once again in awe

  
_So what?!  
  
_

"Suwawa, that's even better, don't sweat it, be glad you have the role and now it will fit you better" Aina smiled, Nanaka just keep her unbelieving face  
"You are right that we kind of ‘look’ like our characters, ok I'm not tall nor blonde as ‘Mari-chan’ but I think I fit her somehow, anyways, if they are changing the character to fit you better that's good! Now you will look like her! It's a good thing..."  
  
Nanaka opened her mouth to answer back, but she couldn't find anything to say, Aina smiled at her wider.  
"And about Arisha, pfff~..." Aina made some weird sounds" Don't let this get ya, you have to see us as your rivals and your friends too, take this opportunity to improve, if Arisha is somehow taking away part of your job; then work harder to prevent that"  
Nanaka gave her a sad look  
  
"Well, you will have to suck it up because she is with us in the ‘Third-year’ group; just pray that she doesn't end in your same subunit; if she does, well, work harder"  
  
How bad her luck may be that she ends up in the same subunit as Arisa, that would be too much.  
Nanaka sighed, but yet, she felt somehow relieved.  
  
"You are quite a **shiny** person don't you?" Nanaka said with a shy smile, Aina laughed.  
"I'm a **shiny** person..." Aina repeated amused  
"Yes, **Shiny** means bright."  
" **Shiny~!!"** high pitched Aina, Nanaka smiled at her; both laughed.  
"Thank you, Suzuki-san..." Nanaka manage to say shyly, Aina laughed like an old man  
"Please call me Ainya, " Aina said smiling at her widely,  
"...and your secret it's safe with me, Suwa-chan" she ended her sentence with such a cute tone.  
"Chan..?" said Nanaka in a low tone; her cheeks becoming red, " I'm older than you..."  
Aina just giggled  
  
"You know, be glad it was me who found you and not Shukashuu," said Aina with her normal tone; Nanaka looked at her with concern  
"Why?"  
"Suwawa you are her 'Osuwa-san', her _sempai_ , she really looks after you,"  
Nanaka gave her a sad smile; yes, she kinda knew that.  
Shuka was like a little sister for her, and of course, it wouldn't be good for her image if Shuka sees her being a complete mess.  
  
"Besides, you gave us that feeling of coolness, you are the one with the cute and wise words; the encourage and such..." Aina said with a wide smile "... That hug you gave Shukashuu, man, I was so jealous!" she ended with a whine " I wanted a hug too~" she said whining and making little jumps in her place.  
  
_A "hugging and caring" Kanan..._

  
Nanaka was in awe, that's the image she gave to her fellow members, and she kind of knew that too, that's the masquerade she wanted to create anyways, but now Aina knew some of her true colors.  
Well, she is not perfect.  
  
"So, everything will be just fine; now put a smile on your lovely and cute Suwa face," said Aina smiling  
Nanaka was speechless; she didn't know that Aina could act and say things with sense, until now she was always laughing with her "old man laughter", making weird sounds and fooling around with "First years", so this was a nice surprise.  
Nanaka just smiled at her.  
  
"Suwa-san, Suzuki-san," a soft voice called both of them, they turned to the source; Aina just smiled back while Nanaka opened her eyes in panic; the creepy assistant of the creepy notebook was standing there at the end of the hall.  
"We are waiting for the two of you in the conference room, please return as soon as possible"  
Nanaka tightened her lips, Aina just answered that she was going to the toilet and that they will be back in no time. The assistant nodded and left.  
  
"Can you wait for me?" asked Aina looking down to Nanaka," Unless you want to go too.."  
Nanaka shook her head.  
"I can wait" she gave her a shy smile, Aina just looked for something in her pocket  
"Here...," she said showing her a cute and small cosmetic bag, " I think you need this"  
  
Nanaka's cheeks become wild red; that means she looked terrible if Aina was lending her some makeup.  
She stood up and received it with a shy "thank you". Aina just giggled and entered the room.  
Nanaka followed thru; she left her folder on top of the sink and started fixing her makeup in silence.  
  
For a girl in her early twenties and starting her career as Seiyuu, sure this was a hard punch to receive, but Nanaka knew better.  
Her "open heart" with Aina made her realize that she has to keep working harder, this wasn't going to be easy and she knew that she can't have moments of weakness anymore, she needed to be strong and determined if she doesn't want to be left behind; as Aina said, they are rivals too, so she has to keep it up, put herself together and see the bright side of things.  
As Sakurako Kimino said, she had big plans for "Kanan" and "Mari".  
  
Nanaka closed the cosmetic bag looking her reflection into the mirror, it was like nothing happened, she looked like herself again. She blinked a few times.  
If Sakurako Kimino had big plans for those characters, that meant that this "plans" are for her and Aina.  
Nanaka's heart started to race.  
  
"Wow, you are looking good," said Aina approaching the sink and began to wash her hands  
"Thank you...," said Nanaka shyly, she looked at Aina thru the mirror, " what do you know about Sakurako Kimino-san?"  
Aina finished washing her hands and went to get a towel to dry them.  
"Uhm, she is a novelist, she created the mangas of  ‘Sister Princes’ and ‘Strawberry Panic!’, basically a Bishöjo novelist, why?"  
Aina asked without a care in the world, while Nanaka opened her eyes wide in shock.  
  
Those mangas were well known of having all female characters and had some sort of "ambiguous relationships"; in the case of "Strawberry Panic!" it actually had some girl on girl relationship being canon.  
In the case of "Love Live!" ( their predecessors) of course, the setting was similar, all-female cast, almost no males on screen ( just Honoka's father, but not his face) and full of "ambiguous relationships" and a lot of "shippings".  
  
Nanaka returned the cosmetic bag to her owner, and the two of them just went out of the toilet heading to the conference room. Aina looked puzzled.  
"So you like manga?" asked Nanaka trying to focus on something else; her new "realization" needed more "thinking time". Aina laughed.  
 "Yeah yeah, I'm totally an Otaku!" she said in her old man tone, Nanaka smiled  
"What about you Suwa-chan?" Nanaka's heart pinched a bit about that "chan"  
"I'm quite an Otaku too..." said Nanaka in her Suwa tone.  
  
They opened the conference door and they were greeted by the attention of their fellow members, the staffs and Sakurako Kimino herself.  
The members said stuff like " finally" or some teasing sounds; Nanaka paid attention to Shuka's face lighting up as soon as she saw her, and then her sight glued on Sakurako Kimino who was grinning at them with some special spark in her eyes.  
"Suwa-san, Suzuki-san, terrific!" she said with a malicious tone and a smug smile " welcome back".  
  
Then Nanaka understood; her gayness really saved her, Sakurako Kimino was going to use her gayness for the show in another level never seen before, because for the first time she found a Seiyuu who is capable to do stuff like hugging so freely, grabbing arms or holding hands.  
In a bolder way.  
  
Nanaka and Aina apologized for being late and took their respective seats; Nanaka next to Shuka and Aina in front of them.  
And for Nanaka's surprise, Arisa was seated on her other side.  
Actually, it wasn't a surprise, but knowing what she knows now, Arisa it's going to be on her radar more often.  
  
Nanaka snapped out of her thoughts when she felt her arm being grabbed; Shuka was clinging to her.  
"Osuwa-san, are you ok?," she whispered with concern; Nanaka felt her cheeks becoming red,  
" you took so long, where were you?" Shuka pouted.  
Nanaka felt her heart shrinking and her lips shaking, Shuka was the sweetest thing she knew.  
"I'm ok Shukashuu" she replied in her whisper voice sweetly; Shuka smiled wide at her.  
"Guys!" whispered Arisa; Nanaka and Shuka seated straight and share some giggles.  
"Sowy..." both said in a whisper voice.  
They were in the middle of the chief of staff speech; he was giving more information and stuff, that of course, she missed completely.  
  
Nanaka's sight was caught by Aina on the front of her; she gave her a smug smile but with kind eyes. Nanaka could interpret that look between the two of them regarding what they talked earlier about Shuka; apparently, Aina was right.  
Then something hit her in the back of her head; What are Shuka's feelings? Does she sees her as a _sempai_ / older sister/something else?.  
Nanaka's eyes traveled from Aina to Sakurako Kimino who was standing behind Aina; she had her sight stuck on Nanaka, one arm crossed while her other arm was resting on top of it, her hand on her chin; she had her smug face.  
  
Nanaka took her sight away from her, becoming uneasy; Shuka was still clanged on her arm listening whatever the chief of staff was saying, but Nanaka could feel that intense gaze over her.  
She wondered how many scenarios were Sakurako Kimino fantasying with her and ... Aina? Maybe now she was fantasying with her and Shuka, well; If in the future she sees Kanan and a clinging You on one of the visual keys or illustration she will know.  
  
"So, with that said, any questions?" said finally the chief of staff, but actually Nanaka didn't catch a thing about it. Nobody asked anything so the chief continued.  
"Well, I'm assuming no one is chickening out of the Sunshine project so let's get started,"  
  
Sakurako Kimino took the word.  
"I have the official lineup, so please pay attention; of course the number one it's gonna be our leader, Takami Chika, number two, Sakurauchi Riko, number three, Matsuura Kanan, number four Kurosawa Dia, number five, Watanabe You, number six, Tsushima Yoshiko, number seven Kunikida Hanamaru, number eight, Ohara Mari and number nine, Kurosawa Ruby."  
  
Nanaka narrowed her eyebrows; she was number three, at least it wasn't the same the number of  "Ayase Eli", if it was, then it was going to be so obvious that "Kanan" was supposed to be the new " Eli", except for the part of the "Student council president" - which is "Dia"- "Kanan" it's going to be the group choreographer as well, like "Eli" was on μ’s.  
  
_So many hopes for "Kanan" when her Seiyuu is not up to the task..._

  
Everybody stood up; Nanaka snapped out of her "Suwa world" when Shuka unlocked her arms and jumped out of her seat.  
  
"Where were ya?" said softly Shuka with a smile, Nanaka just looked at her blinking  
"Far away..." said standing up " what's happening?"  
Shuka giggled and took Nanaka's arm once again  
"We are going to take some pictures..." said Shuka almost whispering; Nanaka cleaned up her stuff and put it in her bag, and followed everybody out.  
  
Shuka filled Nanaka in; they were going to another floor of the building to take the officials photos for the official line up which would be published in the June issue of the Magazine.  
When Nanaka asked why so soon, Shuka just grinned and said that everything in the "Love Live!" franchise was "soon" and because of some of them had tight schedules - meaning Aina, Rikako and Arisa- they have to do the most of the job in the minimum amount of time, that's why today's schedule was a full day job.  
  
They also were told that their first single was called " _Kimi no Kokoro_ wa _Kagayaiteru kai?_ "; the song it's actually done for them to start recording it, but the producers wanted to define the right tone for the characters (this morning activity) and now they can record not only the song but the character's greetings, (basically the character introduction they read this morning).  
  
They were told that the CD single will have two more songs, but the composer, Hata Aki, was too busy with the new μ’s songs so they'll have to wait.  
The recording was scheduled for next week, and they will be recording it one by one; then the sound producer and his people will mix the song and it will be a surprise for them to listening to the final product and the solos parts.  
Nanaka just grinned, she caught the producers talking, that no one of them was ready to sing solos yet, so they will be singing all together.  
For Nanaka that was a relive; it's like everybody was at the same level.  
  
They entered in a big room with white illumination; on one side of the room there were 9 cubicles and in the other side there was a big white curtain and photo-set with those black umbrellas, the photographer and such.  
The chief of staff just greeted them in the middle of the room. Everybody remained still at the entrance.  
  
"This is going to be your ‘practice room’, Lantis's practice room it's now being used by μ’s, and it is the room that settles for ‘Love Live! Project’ so until μ’s is done with it, you will be using this room instead, and I'm sorry, but it has no mirror."  
Everybody looked overwhelmed, for being just a temporary room was big enough for them.  
  
"Now it's settled for the photo shoot after lunch will be arranged for dance practice," said the Chief of staff

Everybody started looking at each other with concern; yes, on the schedule was a " dance practice 15:00pm" item, but of course no one understood how could that be, if there's no song for them to dance with - it's not recorded yet- and what it seemed more obvious; dance practice for what exactly?  μ’s is not done yet with their Lives and activities and of course, they were not even revealed to the world yet to have a Live or something.  
  
The Chief of staff saw the concerned looks on the girls faces and smile wide  
"Don't worry about it, now, each of you was assigned a cubicle; it has your character name outside of it, get used to being called by their names,"  
Everybody stayed quiet  
"On the inside, you will find the clothes for the photo shoot, you can leave your bags there too, please hurry up and change," said the Chief of staff, and everybody nodded and started moving towards the cubicles.  
  
They settled them on the official line up; Nanaka's was the third one. There was a sheet of paper glued to the entrance, it had Kanan's picture and her name.  
  
"Aww, we are not close," said Shuka leaving Nanaka's arm and pouting, Nanaka smiled at her  
"We are not that far either..." said Nanaka,  Shuka smiled wide while going to her own cubicle, Nanaka lost the sight of her when Shuka entered into it.  
"Awww aren't you two cute?," said Aina walking by and giggling, Nanaka jumped in surprise  
"We are so far Suwa- _chan_!" said Aina rising her voice, almost like whining but with a teasing tone.  
Nanaka frowned, Aina was number eight, so she had to walk a long way to her cubicle.  
Aina left laughing like an old man.  
  
"I don't think I can handle that," Nanaka heard behind her, Arisa was just walking beside her; she stopped at the entrance of her cubicle and looked at Nanaka with her expressive eyes " What?" Arisa asked in a not so friendly tone  
  
Of course, Arisa was her neighbor, she was number four in the line up; Nanaka just glared at her and entered in her cubicle.  
  
Each cubicle had a dressing table, a chair in front of it, a coat rack and a table.  
Nanaka left her bag on top of the table while her sight was glued to the coat rack beside it. There was a uniform hanging on it, but it wasn't the same uniform "Kanan" was wearing on the visual key she had seen. It was very similar to μ’s 's school uniform. Skirt, blouse, a red ribbon and a blue blazer.  


_What the hell, don't tell me it's going to be the same uniform..._  
  
Nanaka just didn't think much about it and started changing her clothes quickly; she could hear that some of her fellow members were making noises and were fooling around (First years of course), sometimes she could hear Aina's old man laughers; she couldn't help but smile at that. Aina was really special.  
Then remembered Arisa's comment about her; indeed was kind of rude, but she had a point, can she handle Aina? But what was worse, Nanaka glared Arisa.  
Nakana stopped her movements and looked herself into the mirror; she saw her face in panic.  
  
_That wasn't cool Suwa Nanaka..._

Arisa is not to blame for her not being up to the task, it wasn't Arisa's decision to take away part of her job; it's because of her lack of energy and personality.  
Nanaka finished tying her red ribbon on her neck when she heard a soft voice at the entrance of her cubicle,  
  
"Excuse me Suwa-san, I'm the stylist," a thin and shy girl just popped into her cubicle " I'm here to do your makeup and hair..."  
Nanaka smiled at her; yes! This was what she needed.  
The girl introduces herself, bowed and then put her bag on top of the dressing table, and asked Nanaka to sit down.  
She did what she was asked.  
  
"Do you have a hairstyle in mind?" asked the stylist, Nanaka didn't think twice,  
"Yes, a ponytail, just like ‘Kanan's’" she smiled wider.  
  
.  
.  
  
The photoshoot was a success. It was somehow a little crazy because "First years" were always fooling around and making jokes; Anchan, Shukashuu and Aina where close enough though, Anchan might seem like shy and quiet but she it's easily dragged by Shuka and Aiai to do some silly stuff; she later regreted it and pouted about it.

  
_I can’t imagine a subunit with those three..._  


Nanaka reaffirmed that the only normal people in this group were, Arisa, Rikako and herself.  
And of course they had comments about the uniform; the chief of staff said that it was impossible for them to have the nine real school uniforms for today, so they have to bear with them and use that for now.  
  
Nanaka was somehow happy with her photo session; she was the only one who actually followed the hairstyle of her character. She thought that maybe she didn't have a "Kanan vibe", but at least she will have the characteristic ponytail of her, and of course, a big smile.  
She was even prized by her fellow members for the "clever" choose.  
"So like Suwa-san," said Aiai  
"Of course Osuwa will nail it" Shuka grinned; Nanaka just smile shyly  
"I should have thought so," said Arisa touching her forehead " I should do ‘Dia's’ hair fringe..." Nanaka couldn't help but grin wider about that.  
  
After the photo session, they changed into their normal clothes and went to have lunch; it was a nice moment for them to keep doing the "bonding process".  
Eating in the Lantis dinner room was quite an experience; you could see a lot of people, more of them were artists, singers, musicians or people from the staff.  
  
Anchan was so excited because μ’s was in the building practicing in the room that soon it will be theirs to practice; she even spilled some of her juice over the table because of her enthusiasm.  
  
"Maybe we should go and take a peek at them" she suddenly said.  
The nine of them were seated on one of the tables, each with a tray with their meals.  
  
"First years" stopped making their noises to listen what Anchan just said. Arisa just let go an "oh" while Rikako spilled some of her soup on the tray; Aina laughed at Rikako, Shuka smiled wider looking at Anchan. Nanaka just continued eating; that was a foolish idea she thought.  
  
"Imagine they come to have lunch here with us!" said again Anchan with a lot of enthusiasm; yes she was a huge fan.  
"Oh my God, that would be so awesome!" said Shuka  
"Right?! We should go and say 'hi'" said Anchan almost standing up, everybody made happy noises of acceptance; Nanaka just remove her chopsticks from her bowl.  
"And what would you say?, 'Hi, I'm Inami Anju, I'm your replacement, nice to meet you' " said Nanaka deadpanned,  
She looked up to see everybody quiet and with their sight glued on her; eyes opened like a fried egg.  
  
"Osuwa..." said softly Shuka on her left side; Nanaka blinked a few time with her " Suwa face" looking straight at Anchan, her smile faded.  
"Suwa-san is right," said suddenly Arisa with a serious tone, Nanaka continued eating her meal, at least Arisa got her back.  
"I don't think it's a good idea" finished Arisa  
"Ok maybe not telling them 'that'" tried again Anchan, "First years" started to made sounds again, Arisa gave Rikako some napkins to clean up her mess.  
"Maybe we can ask some advice from them," said Shuka softly  
"We could!" said Anchan recovering her cheerful tone  
  
Nanaka left her chopstick on top of her bowl, signal that she was done with her lunch; this movement didn't go unnoticed. Everybody keep quiet.  
  
"Say Anchan, what would you say if a girl ten years younger than you suddenly came to your practice room and introduce herself as your replacement ?"  
"I'm not gonna tell them tha–"  
"You will," Nanaka cut her and continue," We don't know if they know that they will be replaced by us yet; they are practicing for their next Live and their fan meetings, maybe they don't even know that it's their ‘final Live’ "  
Nanaka's tone was soft but strong at the same time.  
  
"Yeah, in their last Live they announced a new Live at the end of winter but it never said it was their ‘final Live’...." said softly Aiai at the other side of the table, everybody nodded  
"Even if you don't introduce yourself as a ‘replacement’ you will do it indirectly, they will know; maybe they already have a hint with ‘Chika's’ visual key from last month issue, imagine when they see the complete visual key with the eight members left; they will freak out" continued Aiai  
Anchan remained silent, everybody stayed the same.  
  
"It's going to be a hard punch for them," said Arisa, Nanaka looked at her and nodded.  
"Maybe it's too soon," said Nanaka looking at a gloomy Anchan " we don't even have a name as a group; we are just starting something... And I think we need to let them finish what they started with all the spotlights they need too"  
"Our presence right now will be just a bother for them right?" said Rikako, Nanaka nodded at her  
"There's a reason why they haven't introduced us to them and vice versa, maybe that's why," said Arisa continuing eating her meal, Nanaka nodded.  
"Maybe someday they will," said Nanaka looking at Anchan," but I believe it's going to be something official and not because we just popped into their practice room to say 'hi' and remind them that their time is running out"  
Everybody nodded. Nanaka smiled at Anchan, she smiled back.  
  
"You are right Suwa-san..." said Anchan finally.  
"As expected of Osuwa!" said happily Shuka and continued eating, Nanaka just looked at her tray, she didn't finish her meal, but actually she couldn't eat anything else.  
"Nice one leader!" said Aiai from her seat with a teasing tone looking at Anchan, " you are just like 'Chika-chan'!"  
"Mou! Stop it! You mascot!" said Anchan pouting  
Soon the noise started again within "First years" and Anchan arguing.  
  
"That was smooth," said Arisa, she was seated at Nanaka's right; Nanaka looked at her with her "Suwa face"  
"It's what I think, " said Nanaka calmly  
Anchan looked at her again with concern, chopstick in hand, trying to not miss a thing, Nanaka could felt Shuka's gaze too,  
  
"We will be in that position in a few years from now; I will feel terrible if suddenly a girl ten years younger than me popped in our practice room just to say 'hi', I will realize that that girl is my replacement, and even if she has all the good intentions of the world, I will feel that I'm done..."  
"Yeah, I can relate to that," said Arisa in a sad tone  
"I hope that moment is not so soon," said King concerned  
"Guys we haven't even started yet!" said Anchan  
"It would not be a surprise if they had our replacements ready in a few years," said Arisa putting her chopstick the same way Nanaka did  
"Why would you say that?" asked Shuka with clear sadness in her voice  
"They already had ' the formula' " said Nanaka coldly and looking at Arisa; Arisa nodded, it seems that they were thinking the same thing  
"Wait what?" said Aika  
" μ’s was their scapegoat, we are their improvements, they have now 'the formula' to create more 'school idols'; the franchise had grown so big that they don't need us the same time they needed μ’s...they have been on the spotlight for what? Five years? How many years will we have the spotlight before some other girls came to replace us...?"  
Said Arisa with concern, Nanaka nodded, that's exactly what she was thinking about.  
  
" Yeah —," added Aina on the other side of the table, "–oh crap! Aida-san what the hell?!" yelled Aina standing up; Rikako just turned her bowl of soup on top of the table making everybody squeal in their seats.  
Rikako just apologized and with Arisa's help they cleaned up that mess.  
Who have thought that Rikako had a dorky side too.  
A good way to finish lunch break.  
  
.  
.  
  
The final task of the day; dance practice.  
Everybody came back to the 'practice room' after lunch; they, of course, noticed that everything for the photo shoot was removed, and now they had plenty of space to move around. The cubicles were there in the same place as before, what was new were some chairs on one side of the room, a table with bottled water and a sound controller with some speakers.  
Everybody returned to their respective cubicle to change for the dance lesson.  
  
Of course 'First years' were fooling around and taking pictures, Anchan was talking vividly with Aina and Shuka, while Arisa and Rikako seemed to be talking something serious; Nanaka being in her own world was the last one to come out of the cubicle, her hair done in a low ponytail, tight yellow shirt and blue long shorts, nothing girly at all, and that did not go unnoticed.  
  
Aina was the first one to shut up everything and everyone with a weird and loud sound; Anchan and Shuka first looked at Aina with a puzzled expression and then noticed where Aina was looking and saw Nanaka's outfit; then everybody else locked their gazes on her.  
  
"What?" she said in her 'Suwa tone' and with her 'Suwa face'; they giggled, Shuka almost ran towards her  
"I didn't expect 'this'" she said amused  
"'This' what?" asked Nanaka puzzled  
"Actually 'we' didn't, " said Aiai, and everybody laughed; Nanaka narrowed her eyebrows in discomfort.

  
_What's wrong with this people?_

“You usually look like a doll," Arisa said  
  
_Again with the "doll thing"...  
_  
"So you expected to see me in a doll training outfit ?" Nanaka asked ironically, Aina laughed like an old man.  
Shuka smiled wider  
"You look cute," Shuka said in a small voice almost like a whisper; Nanaka's cheeks became slightly red, she didn't say anything in return, that statement caught her off guard.  
"Well, kind of?" said Aiai, King nodded in affirmation  
"Isn't it a bit uncomfortable to train with that kind of clothes?" said Nanaka with a bit of annoyance  
"I think it's uncomfortable to just casually wear them," said Aikyan, Nanaka frowned  
"It was a surprise," said quickly Rikako " actually I was wondering about your training clothes since you took like forever to change"  
  
Nanaka just kicked her annoyance away; these people lived at another pace than her; she put on her 'Suwa face' once again and said,  
"I do things on my own pace, please bear with it" and started walking - at her own pace- to the other side of the room, everyone just didn't push the issue any further.  
  
A few minutes later the Chief of staff, his assistants and two other people (female both) came inside the room.  
The girls stood with their backs looking at the cubicles, while all the staff members were in front of the girls, and that included the creepy assistant, and of course, the creepy notebook.  
  
"You all might be asking why do you have a 'dance practice' when you don't even have a song to dance yet," said the Chief of staff in his particular way.  
Everybody nodded.  
"Well, five years ago, when 'Love Live!' was just starting and only had a few CD singles and CD dramas, we never thought that this will grow the way it did; so when we cast the members, they were just Seiyuus with singing abilities and some of them even we're new to that, they never thought that they will jump out of the CDs and actually perform in front of an audience."  
  
Everybody kept silence.  
  
"For all of you, of course, it's going to be different, you had to dance in your audition and that was what it brought you all here"  
  
Nanaka felt somehow nervous; she remembered her dancing audition, she had to dance μ’s 's ' _Bokura wa Ima no Naka de_ ', it wasn't a difficult choreography but still, now she wasn't sure of anything anymore.  
  
"We want to push all of you a bit further from what you danced on your auditions... Make some 'improvements'" with that last sentence all the girls became uneasy, maybe everybody recalled the conversation during lunch break.  
  
_μ’s was their scapegoat, we are their improvements_

  
"But if we want to push your dance skill a bit, we need to know what are you capable of and that's the deal with this 'dance practice'" he said and turned to the two new females in his staff lines, he introduced them as their new dance teachers, or well, the choreographers.  
  
Everybody bowed and greet.  
  
"I know you haven't recorded the new song yet, but the instrumental version is ready and so a few ideas for the choreography, this is important because your first single will be also your first PV and the choreography needs to be done for the animators to start their jobs, so with no further issues, let's begin! "  
  
With that said, the Chief of staff sat in one of the chairs along with his assistants, letting the dance teachers took control of the room.  
  
Nanaka's heart was pondering hard, she was really nervous, what was the deal with the “pushing them further” thing? Are they going to make them do cartwheels and backflips or something?  
  
_From Idols to cheerleaders!  
_  
She felt uneasy, she wasn't a sports type of girl; she had no energy! But on another hand, Shuka was more energetic than ever!  
  
The first 10 minutes was a warm-up routine, the Lead teacher said they needed to loosen up a bit; indeed, except for Aika and Shuka, the rest looked like a pile of logs.  
After the warm up the teachers just planed a basic routine for them to follow their leads, to see how was their coordination; of course, it was a bit terrible.  
A room with no mirror, girls without a bonding and no sense of space, they kept stumbling with each other.  
  
At the beginning was funny, the girls just laughed and even fooled around a bit, until the Lead teacher clapped hard and loud making everyone quiet.  
She scolded them, letting them know that this wasn't a game and that actually they were sucking at it.

  
Nanaka was crouching trying hard to catch her breath, she wasn't fooling around, actually, she was taking this seriously; for someone who lacks if energy and physical strength this wasn't a joke.  
  
The hard part was to realize that she was at her limit and she didn't even try to sing yet; she almost had a heart attack just to think how exhausting will be to do both things at the same time.  
  
"Are you ok?" Aina whispered to her; Aina wasn't any better but looked better than her  
"I don't know anymore..." Nanaka said with almost no voice at all " How long have we been in this?" she said while drying her forehead with her forearm  
Aina looked up at the clock on one of the walls  
"30 minutes..."  
Nanaka thought her heart stopped and looked Aina with pleading eyes  
"What?!" said almost fainting, Aina faked a smile  
  
Ok, she has no stamina, no energy at all, what the hell was she thinking that she could do this thing in the first place?

  
"So who is 'Matsuura Kanan'?" asked the Lead teacher in a loud voice  
Nanaka took her sight out of Aina and looked straight to the front, with almost no energy she raised her hand.  
  
Everybody looked at her; she was the only one crouching and looking like fainting  
The Lead teacher stood there quiet for about a full minute, then she looked at the Chief of staff  
  
"You got to be kidding me!" She said towards the Chief of staff, he just shrugged, Nanaka saw him with the corner of her eye; she panicked.  
  
_No no no no no good, no good..._

She became paler again, it's like having the situation of this morning all over again, but this time her fellow members were there  
  
"Can you stand up?" the Lead teacher said with a harsh tone  
  
Nanaka used all her might to stand up, she couldn't say a word. She felt her sweat running furiously from her temples.  
  
"Ok, " said the Lead teacher  
She took a moment to examine her; Nanaka looked at her, then to her fellow members, everyone had a worried expression, she looked at the Chief of staff; he was hiding his face with his hands once again, then she looked at the creepy assistant with the creepy notebook, she wasn't writing anything; her sight was glued to the situation, then Nanaka looked back to the lead teacher.  
  
_Oh my God I'm screwed, this time no creepy notebook or my gayness will help me..._

  
"Do you know your character?" said suddenly the Lead teacher  
"Yes..." Nanaka said softly (mostly because of her lack of air)  
"Which are her appeal points?"  
  
Nanaka took all her power to just answer without fainting  
"Her muscles, she is proud of her nice body" her voice was soft, almost like a whisper  
"Yet you don't have any stamina," said the Lead teacher annoyed  
  
Nanaka didn't say anything; what would she said? That she knew that? That she lacks of energy too?  
  
"Suwawa... " she could hear Aina whisper with concern; Nanaka didn't move, her sight was glued to the Lead teacher  
"The choreography we designed for your first PV needs three of you to do a leapfrog, and we thought to use the more suitable characters, in other words, the most athletic ones," the Lead teacher said looking at everyone now  
  
That made total sense thought Nanaka, Kanan was indeed the most sporty girl among the members, but her?  
  
_A leapfrog?!_

"You and you," the Lead teacher said pointing at Anchan and Aikyan; they opened their eyes wide and answered with a 'yes'  
"Come to the front," the  Lead teacher asked  
  
They did what they were asked, then the teacher made them stand back to back and then bent simulating an easel.  
  
"'Kanan-san'!" the Lead teacher called her; Nanaka stood straight and said a soft 'yes'  
"Can you do a leapfrog using them as support?" she asked showing Anchan and Aikyan.  
  
Nanaka's eyes became wider in panic, her knees started to tremble. She can't even be there standing up and this woman want her to do a leapfrog.  
She felt her heart racing, her lips shaking and her temples sweating again.  
She saw Anchan and Aikyan looking back at her with concerned eyes, she could felt her fellow members being uneasy, and Aina calling her 'Suwawa' softly once again.  
  
"No, I can't" she finally said  
"Please do it" the teacher insisted  
"No, I can't," she said again firmly  
"You are not even trying"  
"I know I can't do it" she lowered her sight in shame and clenched her fists until they become white.  
  
"You two," said the Lead teacher to Anchan and Aika "go back to your place"  
They stood up and went back to their places while Nanaka was using all her might to be there without crying; for the second time in the same day, she was getting crap because not being up for the task, for not being 'Matsuura Kanan'.  
  
_What I was thinking when I aimed for this role...?_

"'Matsuura Kanan' was the character designed to be the 'sporty girl', she likes diving, running, and if I recall well, she is actually the choreographer of the group, " said the Lead teacher looking at Nanaka " But you don't have the energy, stamina or even the 'muscles' 'Kanan-san' was proud of, if  'Kanan-san' were here and I asked her to do that leapfrog she will do it without hesitation "  
  
"Well I'm not 'Kanan'" said Nanaka strongly, her tone far from calm; every member just opened their eyes wide.  
Nanaka was so demure, polite and quiet, that no one has ever seen her angry or showing any big sign of emotion so far.  
  
"Excuse me?!" said the Lead teacher outraged, then she looked at the Chief of staff who almost felt from his chair.  
"Are you ok with this?"  
  
The Chief of staff stood up and with a concerned tone spoke  
"Suwa-san, you can't say tha–"  
"I can!" she cut him out, that reaction made everyone said soft  "oh", Nanaka didn't blink,  
"I'm done with that, I'm not _that_ 'Kanan' for Christ sake, it's a fictional character, I'm her Seiyuu, I don't have her 'nice body' and I don't have her energy to do that; we have to look like, not be like, and I believe the propose of this was to know our limits; well this is mine! I can't do it."  
  
Silence hung thick in the air.  
Nanaka was done with their shit, all day receiving crap from everyone just because she didn't fit what they designed.  
Why did they choose her in the first place anyway?  
  
"Excuse me..." said Shuka raising her hand and with a shaky voice; Nanaka looked at her concerned, actually everybody did.  
"I can do the leapfrog..."  
  
Nanaka opened her eyes wide, not knowing if it was from shock, fear, anger or what.  
  
"Sorry you are?" asked the Lead teacher  
"Saito Shuka, the voice of Watanabe You," said Shuka in a neutral tone. Nanaka took a closer look at her; she wasn't even sweating.  
"Ah yes, you will actually" the Lead teacher made a hand signal to her fellow teacher to bring her a notebook; she received it, read something and then smiled.  
  
"The most suitable characters to do the leapfrog are ‘Matsuura Kanan’ with the main jump, ‘Watanabe You’ and ‘Ohara Mari’ for the smaller ones" the Lead teacher looked up to the girls " who is ‘Ohara Mari’?"  
  
Aina shyly raised her hand.  
The lead teacher closed the notebook with annoyance and looked towards the Chief of staff  
"Seriously?!" she said in her hash tone, the Chief of staff shrugged again.  
  
"It's because I'm short?" asked Aina with the same annoyance and with a loud tone. The Lead teacher sighed.  
"Of course its because you are short, 'Mari-san' is the tallest, and that made total sense in the theory of the choreography," said the Lead teacher leaving the notebook on one of the chairs  
"It's ok!" said Shuka with her wide smile, " I can do the main jump," she looked at Nanaka with kind eyes "if that is what it takes to help Suwa-san, I'll do it"  
  
Nanaka looked at her like a fish out of the water  
"And I can do the small jump!" said Aina with confident "maybe not right now, but I will practice, and I will do it!"  
The lead teacher looked at them with skepticism, then she looked at Nanaka; she was a mess, and judging her not only physically but now mentally, she will mess up the main leapfrog, so hell no, at least this 'Watanabe You' looked fine with it. She sighed again.  
  
"Ok, ‘Watanabe You’ will do the main jump," then she looked at Nanaka straight in the eyes" but you will do a small one, even if you have to spend day and night with me to finally do it, are we clear?"

  
_Can I do it?_

Nanaka nodded, but her lips were sealed.  
"Alright!" the Lead teacher said while clapping" let's start with the real thing then!"  
  
The teachers called First and Second years' to start with the formation, while 'Third years' could drink water and cooled down a bit.  
Nanaka went straight to the table and picked up the first bottled water she could, and sat down with her back on the nearest wall; who needed chairs anyways.  
30 minutes and she was done with the exercise.  
  
_What a day..._

" **Oh my God** ," said in her English Aina sitting next to her with her bottle of water  
"Don't tell me that this morning was like this..."  
"I think it was worse..." said Nanaka in a low and gloomy tone, at least now she could defend herself.  
"Well be glad it wasn't Arisa this time"  
"I wasn't what this time?" Arisa asked with her bottle in her hand; it was almost obvious that she will follow Nanaka and Aina to the table. Nanaka narrowed her eyes towards Aina, slightly annoyed her cheeks becoming red.  
  
" **Sorry**..." Aina said in a small voice and looked up to Arisa " you are a good dancer, where did you learn?" then she smiled wide  
"I used to do ballet," said Arisa and then drank of her water.  
Nanaka didn't pay any mind on their conversation and entered in her 'Suwa world'.  
  
This morning her ass was saved by a creepy notebook and her gayness, while part of her job was freely removed and gave it to Arisa who actually doesn't know yet, and to put the cherry on top, now it's Shuka who is saving her with the leapfrog.  
And maybe not only that, her masquerade of someone 'demure' and ' cool' was crushed with this lack of energy she showed. Well, they will figure it out somehow anyway.  
So how on earth did she end up with this role again? Matsuura Kanan was someone so far from her, so perfect, so not like her, she can't even get close to her. Not only she failed to be her voice, now she failed to be physically like her.  
  
"Suwa-san are you ok?" asked Arisa with concern; Nanaka was paler, she felt dizzy.  
"Let's go to the toilet, Arisha help me out," said Aina with all her seriousness and standing up; Arisa helped Nanaka to stand up.  
  
Aina grabbed Nanaka by her hand and rushed out of the room; Nanaka could hear the Lead teacher calling for 'Komiya-san' and telling her that she should stay, Aina was enough.  
The next thing was like seen a movie with black blanks, first the hallway, a door, toilet piles, and then darkness.  
  
  
Cold sweat ran from her spine, slow tears ran from her cheeks and a loud noise was blocking her hearing.  
Her blurry sight was gradually becoming more clear; she could see Aina in front of her with a worried expression, her big black eyes glued into hers, she saw her lips moving but she couldn't hear a thing.  
  
Soon she realized that she was sitting on the toilet floor, her back on the stall's door.  
She blinked, noticed her tears; she tried to clean them with her right hand and she realized that she was shaking.  
  
"How are you feeling...?" she could finally hear and looked straight to Aina once again.  
"What happened?" her voice was a soft whisper  
"I think you fainted..." Aina said and gave her a coy smile  
Nanaka blinked a few more times, she felt weak, embarrassed, hurt.  
  
"Do you want some?" said Aina offering her bottled water, Nanaka nodded and with shaky hands grabbed it.  
"We were in a rush so I ran with my bottle in hand, it's not even open," Aina said smiling, then she noticed that Nanaka was shaking,  
"Here, let me," she said grabbing the bottle and opened for her, keeping the bottle cap.  
Nanaka took little sips from the bottle, Aina just stayed there looking at her with concern.  
  
"I'm sorry..." Nanaka said leaving the bottle on the floor.  
Aina shook her head  
"It's ok"  
"I made a fool of myself," Nanaka said with a voice of sadness and anger.  
  
_Again...  
_

  
"Don't worry, I think you were great" Aina said recovering her happy tone, Nanaka looked at her with no expression at all.  
"If you had actually tried to make that jump, you would have made a fool of yourself"  
Nanaka gave her a shy smiled  
  
"How are you?" asked Nanaka out the blue, Aina just rose her eyebrows in surprise  
"What? Me? I wasn't the one who fainted"  
"I know, but about the practice," Nanaka said taking more sips of the bottle  
"Well, you know, the dance we did on the audition was far easier than this," Aina said amused and changing her position in the toilet floor,  
"I didn't expect they wanted us to do those leapfrogs! What it this? Are we cheerleaders now?!" the final word she said it with her characteristic high pitch, that made Nanaka giggled  
  
"I thought that too, soon they will ask us to do some cartwheels and backflips too" Nanaka's tone was more like herself; she took another sip. Aina laughed softly  
" Well, I'm not _that_ tired," she said pointing at Nanaka, "but sure tomorrow I'll be really sore, I'm not used to this kind of training" Aina looked at Nanaka with kind eyes  
"Neither do you, am I right?"  
Nanaka just snorted, and give back the bottle to Aina to close it up.  
  
She tried to stand up with Aina's help; she walked towards the sink and washed her face, while Aina took some towels for Nanaka to dry herself.  
  
"You know this is going to be worse..." said Aina looking at her thru the mirror; Nanaka nodded and kept drying her face,  
"Now it's just a song... Later will be lots more!"  
"I know," Nanaka said in her 'Suwa tone' and throwing the towel in a basket " and now we didn't even sing..."  
Aina opened her eyes wide and made some weird sounds  
  
"You are right!!!" she finally said  
Nanaka gave her a coy smile and said,  
"You know, now we have to make that jump"  
Aina smiled cockily and put the bottle over the sink  
  
"And we will, I'm not going to let that woman make fool of me because of my height! And you should do the jump too! " she said pointing her index at Nanaka  
"You should not point people, this is your second time," Aina bit her lips,  
"I'm afraid about Shuka " Nanaka finally said, Aina, made an 'oh' sound and then her expression changed into a worried one  
  
"Why? It's because of the jump? She said she could do it....and for your sake, I'm gonna be jealous~" said Aina with a teasing tone; Nanaka's cheeks became a bit red  
"I didn't ask her to do that, what image of her 'Osuwa' now..." she said disappointed, Aina snorted  
"C'mon! Suwawa, you don't need to be a genius to see that you lack stamina and have no energy; I wonder if your sleepy face looks just like that, you don't seem to open your eyes!"  
  
Nanaka actually opened her eyes wide with that statement  
"Wait what?"  
"Yeah you hear me," Aina said grabbing the bottle again and without thinking drank directly from it  
  
"Ain...Suzuki-san!" said Nanaka in panic, Aina just opened her eyes like saying 'what'   
"I, Uhm, I drank from it!" Nanaka said making her voice louder; Aina opened her eyes wider and removed the bottle from her lips, then laughed like an old man; Nanaka was left in awe and blinking several times  
  
Aina kept the laughing.  
"Mou! You know, that was an undirected kiss..." Nanaka said turning furious red.  
"But it was a kiss~!" Aina said loud and clear; Nanaka took the bottle out of Aina's hands, making them get closer.  
  
Nanaka looked down at her.  
Aina looked up at her.  
  
"I can keep it a secret too," Aina said softly, Nanaka frowned and moved even closer to her; she tried to 'intimidate' Aina with her height.  
"Yeah, like you did before, what the hell with Komiya-san?!"  
"I'm Sowy ..." she said cutely and soft not taking their eyes from each other "...this will be our little secret~," she said again in her normal loud tone.  
  
"What secret? …What is happening here...?" Nanaka could hear a cute and familiar voice behind her at the entrance of the toilet room. She looked down at Aina in panic; Aina looked up at Nanaka with her big eyes in shock, the ' mood' somehow broken. Her heart racing.  
  
"Osuwa-san..."  
Nanaka turned around just to see Shuka standing in the door frame, she looked puzzled.  
Nanaka left the bottle on the top of the sink without taking her eyes off Shuka.  
"Shukashuu ~," said happily Aina, but maybe no one heard it.

  
Nanaka and Shuka seemed to be lost in their gazes; Shuka had a sad face, she was sweating and panting, meaning that she might come there running because she was worried about Nanaka or that she finally was getting tired from practice.  
But her face was telling Nanaka that it was option 1.  
She couldn't be helped but to feeling sad and with the imperious desire to cry.  
  
_What the hell with this day._

\--0oo0--

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everyone can have a bad day, we are sorry Suwawa .... : (
> 
> We think that next chapter will be the training camp? we will start moving a bit faster now! ;)  
> If you want to know what happened last night at shuka's house with the dance practice and Suwa's guilt, go and check out the side story "Feelings under a Mask".  
> We hoped you had enjoyed this chapter!  
> Thanks so much for the Kudos! ;)!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Practice, practice, and practice, makes perfect.  
> The project Sunshine finally kicked off, the 9 girls started practicing for their first PV.  
> Can Suwa Nanaka make it without fainting?  
> Feelings are starting to blossom.  
> Training Camp part 1 starts here!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We are really sorry for the longer chapter once again, it's difficult when you have so many characters! and you have to fill a lot of details!  
> We hope you can enjoy it!
> 
> This time;  
> ——-**00**—— (Skip in months)  
> \--0oo0-- (End of chapter)

Masquerade.

Chapter 3.

 

You could hear noisy sounds of people moving, clapping, jumping and sometimes singing.

The big white room was filled with vividly sounds of an extenuating dance practice; the exasperated “1,2,3” from the dance teacher and her clapping was making everybody nervous, they weren’t used to it yet, so they kept stomping with each other.

 

“Ok!” Exclaimed the Lead teacher with a higher clap; everybody stopped their dance moves.  
“5 minutes break, starting now!”

She clapped again.

 

The room was filled with relieving sighs and some murmurs, almost everyone went straight to the table with the bottled water the production kindly prepared for them; except for one girl.

 

Suwa Nanaka felt on her knees right on her spot, breathing heavily, sweating like crazy and with her eyes shuted tight.

This had been too much for her already.

 

Few weeks have passed since that “terrible” day, when she figured out that she wasn’t up for the task, and that she just didn’t look like Kanan nor had the voice the productions wanted but of course she hasn’t the stamina and energy her character had.

Indeed was a huge punch to take, but Suwa Nanaka was stubborn enough to stick around and actually do this thing right.

Even if it’s was painful, hard or almost impossible; she was determined to do this thing until the end.

 

Finally the “Sunshine” project kicked off with the 8 characters remain with the same key visual of Chika, this time the 8 characters left were there with her, and for Nanaka’s surprise, there was actually a clinging You on Kanan’s arm, she couldn’t be helped but smile wide about that, indeed her actions in her real life had some repercussions on the project.   
And then a month later the full cast was revealed on the Dengeki G's Magazine with a poll for the fans to submit the new group name; there wasn’t time to back out now, her smiling picture with Kanan’s ponytail was out there for the world to see her and recognize her as Kanan’s Seiyuu.

 

The recording session for the first single wasn’t an easy task too; like the producer said, no one was ready to sing solos yet, and actually took them more time than everybody expected to record. They had to sing the song one by one and repeatedly to get into the character’s tone or because they couldn’t get some of the notes.

After that session, the Chief of staff determined that they would need vocal class as well.

In this instance, at least Nanaka wasn’t the only one who “failed”, and somehow that was a relief for her.

Same thing for the introduction track for each character.

For Nanaka was a new challenge; she had a new introduction text to read with her new “hugging and caring” Kanan's voice.

Her introduction remarked her “airhead” condition as a 17 years old high school student, that she loved the sky and the sea, her damn appeals points of strength, muscle and nice body because of working in a diving shop of her family.

Also that there’s nothing to do after school and it was because of Chika, her childhood friend who asked to become a School Idol and she decided to try because why not? And she will be just fine because she is the athletic type, even if everybody laughed at her because she didn’t seem the Idol type. But never mind, she was practicing her winks so it’s nice to have one clumsy idol around because being an “empty-headed” made her all the more adaptable. So sure, if this was appealing enough, come to Uchiura to see the sea and the sky; come over and let’s share a hug!

 

Actually Sakurako Kimino was so happy when she heard Nanaka practicing her new lines, that Nanaka just share a smile with her, but in her head she was freaking out; the image of the Kanan in her head, so straightforward and confident, replaced for an airhead/empty-headed girl who is a school Idol because why not, proud of her body, clumsy, and of course, don’t forget about the hug.

This is how Sakurako Kimino thought about Nanaka? Someone not suitable to be an idol, air-headed, clumsy but hey! She can hug.

 

After recording the song, of course, the real dance practices started, now that they knew the song they thought they could do it better, but they were wrong.

There was still some inconsistencies between the members, they kept stomping into each other, they still had no sense of space -the room was still without a mirror- and their stamina was still low, they couldn’t sing and dance without lacking air.

And here we are now.

 

Nanaka finally sat on her spot, her knees hurting about her last position.

She placed her arms above her knees, resting her forehead on her arms.

She was really tired, and couldn’t help but feel that she was slowing everyone down.

She looked slightly above her arms to see her fellow members; even if they were tired, sweaty and sore, they looked happy.

Everyone was beside the table; Aikyan was teaching the last movement to Aiai, King who seemed lacking of air and with low stamina as well, was talking vividly with Arisa and Rikyako, Anchan was drying her forehead with her towel while talking with Shuka. The only one who wasn’t talking with no one was Aina. She was there with her bottle in hand and looking straight at her.

Aina shared a shy smile at her, Nanaka just hide her face behind her arms, her cheeks becoming red.

 

After that “terrible” day in the toilet room, she felt like a connection with Aina; the way Aina ran and took her to the toilet, watched her, talked to her and later saved the situation with Shuka, gave her a deep impression of her.

It wasn’t like they were doing something wrong, actually why did she care about that much? Why did Shuka care actually?

The way Shuka looked at her that day, like if she was betraying her, but betraying her about what?   
They kept staring at each other without saying anything.

It was beyond awkward.

Aina saw that no one was talking or doing something so she quickly did her weird stuff to snap both girls out of that “gaze contest”, making both girls laugh or rolled eyes. Then they returned to practice where Nanaka almost faint again.

But it was Aina who took her out of that weird situation.

After practice Nanaka said a shy “thank you” but Aina just looked at her with her serious expression and asked;

“What’s the deal with Shukashuu?”

“I don’t know.”

She answered coldly and then they dropped the topic.

 

 

 

_What’s the deal with her...?_

 

Nanaka lifted her head to look at the table once again; she rose her eyebrows to find out that Shuka was looking at her, she had a concerned look.

Then Nanaka felt a cold and wet bottle on her right cheek; she jumped at that sensation and made a loud gasp.

She looked at her right in panic; Aina was with her goofy smile and laughing like an old man.

“Hey!” Yelled annoyed Nanaka at Aina, then returned her sight to the table; Shuka gave her a sad look.

 

_Why? Why is she looking at me that way?_

 

“Here,”  
Said Aina giving her the bottle, Nanaka received it with a shy “thank you”; Aina took a seat at her side, while Nanaka opened the bottle.

“How are you doing? You think this time you can survive without fainting?”

Nanaka snorted while taking a sip from the bottle.

“It’s painful to see you like this”  
Said Aina with a concerned tone; it was weird for Nanaka to see a serious Aina for once, she shared a sad look with her, was she looking that bad?

“I’m not gonna quit.” Said Nanaka with determination

“I know, but you look that you are not enjoying this...”

Nanaka looked at her with a concerned look.

 

_Enjoy? This? Really? I’m on the edge of fainting on every single practice..._

 

She took her sight out of Aina to actually see the other members, they looked that they were enjoying themselves; “first years” were fooling around as always, Arisa and Rikyako immersed in some conversation but happily, Anchan dropping her bottle and Shuka laughing at her.

Yes, they looked happy.

Nanaka blinked, then took another sip from her bottle.

“You know, it’s not worthy if you don’t enjoy the ride...”  
Said Aina drinking from her bottle; Nanaka left her bottle on the floor and shared gazes with Shuka once again.

Anchan was drying her mess on the floor, while Shuka was staring at Nanaka with a concerned look.

“You might be right...”  
Said Nanaka in monotone without taking her eyes away from Shuka.

Aina blinked a few times, took several sips from her bottle and then she whispered:

“Just fuck her already.”

Nanaka opened her eyes wide and looked at her in shock.

Aina laughed with her old man laugher loud and clear with the clapping included, taking all the gazes of the room, Nanaka just shrugged in her spot, ears red with embarrassment.

 

The dance teacher clapped loud once again, meaning that the break was over.

Everybody left their bottles and towels on the sides of the room and gathered in the center to continue the practice.

Suddenly the doors opened, taking all the gazes with it.

The Chief of staff came in with a wheel rack with a monitor on top.

He said aloud “good afternoon”, every girl bowed.

The teachers helped the Chief of staff to settle the monitor while the girls looked at each other with concerns looks; Nanaka took this time to keep catching her breath, she wasn’t ready to continue this practice.

 

“Ok!”  
Said the Chief of staff, every girl looked straight to him and the monitor in silence.  
  
“I’m happy to announce that an animatic of your single it’s out and ready!”  
He said with a big smile and proud.

The girls looked at each other.

“That means, that a preliminary animation is ready for your first PV”

The girls did unison “oh~”

“And I didn’t want to waste any time, and since you are already practicing some of the movements, I want you to see the full choreography in all its glory”

He really sounded excited, Nanaka frowned; somehow this felt that this could get worse.

 

So the girls gathered close to the monitor while the Chief of staff pushed the play press button.

It was still a raw animation, but what was important was the choreography and some scenes of it, they used 3D models to do it; somehow everybody was with a goofy smile looking at the raw animatic, not because it was still very “undone”, but because their characters were on it, so far they have seen them on visual keys, pictures, static image of them, and now they were dancing and moving, somehow their characters were finally alive, and singing with their voices.

Nanaka couldn’t help but noticed the first sequence of images, while the characters sing the first verse, Chika was alone, Kanan and You shared a scene, then “First years”, followed by one of Dia and Mari, last one was one of Riko alone; for her it was like watching the cast members usual interaction.

She couldn’t help but keep noticing that in every scene of Kanan, there was You on it.

Nanaka frowned.

Sakurako Kimino told her that she had big plans for Kanan and Mari, yet she didn’t share any screen time with Mari, instead, she was sharing the screen with You ( and Chika too, but Chika was everywhere).

Nanaka took her sight away from the screen a few seconds to look at Shuka; Shuka being short was at the front, but Nanaka could see her face clearly.

Shuka was smiling wide with her full teeth, making little jumps on her spot, clapping happily in some parts of the animation, and with sparkles in her eyes.

Nanaka felt something warm in her belly, and she couldn’t help but smile sweetly at her; this was the first time Shuka could see her character alive, so of course, she was so excited.

 

“Hey! Here it comes!”  
Shouted Anchan with excitement, Nanaka blinked and returned her sight to the monitor; she lost almost half of the video because she was staring at Shuka.

The instrumental part began, and everybody froze for a few seconds, it seems that everybody stopped breathing as well.

The instrumental part was the climax of the choreography, and everything was fine, until the guitar solo where the famous leapfrogs came to scene; just like the Lead teacher said that “terrible” day, Kanan and Mari did a small leapfrog over what it seems Chika and Riko, then they moved quickly to the center of the choreography joining their bodies simulating an easel and You jumped over them with the main leapfrog.

 

_Oh.  
Crap._

 

Nobody said a thing for the next 15 seconds until the “solo part” started, Anchan and Rikyako squealed with excitement

“Oh my God!” said Anchan with her hands in her mouth

“We got the solo!” said Rikyako jumping in her spot

Everybody started to speak at the same time commenting the next sequence, everybody except for Aina who was frozen on her spot looking at the monitor with her eyes wide and lost, it was like she was in shock, and of course, Nanaka was frozen too.

One thing was to do the leapfrog, another one is made the leapfrog and then become the easel for Shuka to jump over you.

After the solo, King and Aiai started singing repeatedly the  _“Doki Doki sunshine”_ thing and moved around.

Finally, the video finished, everyone clapped; Aina and Nanaka clapped shyly, they were still trying to figure out how on earth they were going to do that damn leapfrog.

 

The Lead teacher clapped loud again making them be quiet.

“Ok, now that we have the full choreography, let’s put this thing together.”  
Said Anchan with big enthusiasm.

Nanaka swallowed hard, and she believed she could hear Aina did the same thing.

Everybody gathered in the center of the room and formed a circle.

Nanaka gave a troubled look at Aina; Aina responded with a sad face, she was pale.

 

They had been practicing the leapfrog for a while but with no good results.

Shuka in another hand, had been practicing using Anchan and Aikyan as an easel, because their heights were similar, of course she could do it from the very beginning; for Aina was hard because she was short, and the only way she could kind of do it, was if Aiai was her easel, and still they fell several times on the floor.

Nanaka just couldn’t jump.

By the time for her to actually do the jump - the instrumental part- she lost all her strength in her legs and she couldn’t jump, no matter who was her easel.

 

Back in the circle, everybody shared concerned looks, somehow the music never started, so they looked back at the teachers; they looked troubled.

They were whispering with the Chief of staff, he also looked concerned.

They soon caught that the girls were looking at them with a worried expression; the Chief of staff looked at the teachers, he nodded, and finally, he took a seat in one of the sides of the table.

 

“I don’t like this.”  
Sentenced Arisa with a whisper, Nanaka nodded and gave her a hum.

The teachers approached the circle with their worried faces.

“We apologize, but we can’t continue the dance practice.” said the Lead teacher

Everybody looked at each other, Nanaka actually felt relieved.

“Why?”  
Asked Anchan, everybody looked at her with their eyebrows rose, it wasn’t usual to ask or contradict the dance teacher or anyone from the staff.

“Now that we have the full choreography we can practice it completely!” continued Anchan

“You can’t practice it completely just yet”  
Said the Lead teacher with her harsh tone; Anchan frowned

“I believe it’s enough for today,” said the Lead teacher and then added, “we, the teachers now have to re-study the choreography and put it together with the information we had, so we think it’s enough for today”

Nanaka sighed relieved, she felt that Aina did a relieve sigh too, followed by a tired King as well, but Anchan just couldn’t take it.

“But there are some parts of the dance that remained the same as we have been practicing! We still can do it”

“I said no Inami-san; enough for today,” said the Lead teacher turning her back to the girls.

The girls shared some gazes; some of them just shrugged and started to leave the circle. Anchan just stood there.

 

“I’m not going to quit! We still can dance! And I want to continue this practice”

Everybody stopped their steps to see Anchan in the middle of the room; she was with her serious face and her fists clenched.

“Anchan...” said softly Shuka at her side

The Lead teacher didn’t stop her steps, she was just ignoring Anchan’s show, she grabbed a towel and started drying herself.

“Please, Sensei, just press the play button!”

 

Nobody moved.

The 8 girls left shared weird looks between each other, actually, it seemed that no one wanted to continue the dance practice, or at least no one supported Anchan’s idea to continue.

Arisa was the first one to gasp and started moving to her chair where her stuff was.

“Sensei!” shouted Anchan.

The Lead teacher stopped her drying duty and turned around to see Anchan.

“Are you done Inami- san?” Her tone was even harder than usual, Anchan shrugged in her spot.

“No.” said firmly “We want to continue”

“We?...” the Lead teacher rosed her eyebrows, threw her towel to the nearest chair and moved towards Anchan with firm steps.

“Inami-san I didn’t want to do this but you gave me no choice,”

Arisa stopped her doing to watch this, everybody just stood there in awe; the Lead teacher shared some gazes with the Chief of staff, he nodded to the teacher to continue,

“I am the teacher and when I said it’s enough, then it’s enough and you obey, it’s that simple, I don’t have to give you any reasons why I stopped the dance practice if I say we are done, then we are done”

Anchan was about to retort but the teacher lifted her hand saying that she wasn’t done yet.

“You think because you had the lead character you are actually the leader of the group, let me tell you it’s not like that, you are far from a leader, your character is the leader, not you; you said that ‘we’ want to continue the dance practice, but who are ‘we’ Inami-san? I didn’t hear any of them saying they wanted to continue, why are you talking on their behalf?”

Anchan was about to speak, the Lead teacher lifted her hand again.

“A good leader knows about the people who lead; you saw the video right?”

Anchan nodded

“Then you would have noticed that at least two of your fellow members can’t continue practicing”

Nanaka felt a pinch in her stomach she was one of them.

“The choreography you saw it was somehow new to us too, we need to re-study the way of teaching every single step to each one of you; we didn’t expect that 'Mari-san' and 'Kanan-san' were the ones to be the easel of 'You-san', so how do you want for Suzuki-san and Suwa-san to continue this dance practice if they can’t even do a single leapfrog?”

Aina moved her hands to her mouth, Nanaka just looked at the floor in shame.

“So before you try to do your ‘leader thing’, try to think in the people you are actually trying to lead, maybe you are in a good shape, but not all of them are,”

The Lead teacher looked at all the girls

“It’s not just Suwa-san and Suzuki-san, no one of you had the stamina this song requires to finish this choreography,”

The Lead teacher looked at Anchan once again

“So I highly recommend you to be quiet and obey your teacher when she said that it’s enough for today. Are we clear?”

Anchan nodded.

“Good, class dismissed!” she said clapping loud.

Everybody moved to their respective chairs.

Anchan just stood there her eyes all watery.

“I’m sorry...” she whispered, the Lead teacher just gave her a pat on her back

“It’s not me the one you need to apologize...”

 

It seemed that they continued the talking, but Nanaka didn’t pay any mind anymore, she just went straight to her chair to grab her stuff.

 

 

 

After changing to their normal clothes, everybody started to leave the Lantis building to continue their respective schedules.

As for Nanaka, in a few days, she will start a new radio show; she will co-host a radio show named “ _Izawa Mikako Suwa Nanaka no Fuwa Sata”_  with no other one than Izawa Mikako herself, another Seiyuu in the industry.

So she was asked for a meeting to see the final details of the broadcast.

She was about to leave the changing room when she saw Anchan sat all gloomy with her stuff on her side, her gaze lost somewhere on the floor.

Nanaka blinked a few times, she looked around to see if someone else was left, to her surprise -or maybe not- she was the last one, everybody left already.

Nanaka blinked again, sighed and walked towards Anchan.

 

“How are you doing Inami-san?”

Nanaka asked in her singsong tone and stood in front of her. Anchan snapped out of her daydream and looked up at Nanaka.

“Suwa-san...”

Anchan just made a painful face and then lowered her gaze to the floor again.

Nanaka raised one eyebrow, maybe she didn’t expect to see her, and maybe she wanted to talk with somebody else.

 

Anchan and Shuka were the youngest among the members, for Nanaka it was easier to talk with Shuka than Anchan, maybe because Anchan was always so cheered up, doing the “leader thing” and was always full of confidence, instead Shuka was more reckless, she doubted more and Nanaka was always there for her.

She felt that warm feeling in her stomach again.

 

“I’m sorry,” said Anchan with her normal tone, and then looked up at Nanaka with a smile

“What for?” asked Nanaka with a curious voice

“I didn’t notice you, or Ainya and I was stubborn with the practice”

Nanaka hummed.

They looked at each other in silence.

Nanaka blinked a few times.

 

_Yeah, this is awkward..._

 

Nanakajust grabbed her bag tight and turned around.

“It’s not your fault, so don’t worry about it,” she said walking to the exit door.

“Suwa-san”

Called Anchan, Nanaka looked at her with her “Suwa face”

“Please bear with me” she bowed, Nanaka opened her eyes wide and raised her eyebrows.

_Was that necessary?_

Nanaka hummed, she bowed too and left.

 

_Well, it could be worse, I think it went great...why is with Shuka way more easier...?_

 

“O-Suwa-san “

Nanaka hear being called softly, she looked at the voice; Shuka was standing in the main hall next to the door, she gave her a sweet smile.

She felt that warm feeling in her stomach again.

“Shukashuu~”

Nanaka said in her singsong voice

“Can we talk? Are you in a hurry?” there was a worried tone in her voice

Nanaka blinked a few times and lifted her left hand to see her watch.

“Hum, I have time thanks to practice ending early...”

“Oh! Where are you heading?... Oh sorry if it’s private I understand it...”

Nanaka looked at her with concern, something was wrong

“Shuka are you ok? I’m heading to work, I’ll be co-hosting a radio show...”

“Oh... right...”

They both felt in silence, Shuka just looked at her shoes, while Nakana looked Shuka’s face.

 

_This isn’t awkward... I could stay here looking at her face all day.... wait, what?_

 

Nanaka blinked furiously and shook her head.

“So, what do you want to talk to me about?”

Shuka looked up at her again, her cheeks slightly red

“I ... I was wondering... if you... eh...” Shuka started to play with her fingers

Nanaka raised her eyebrows.

That damn warm feeling becoming something now painful, she could felt her heart pounding.

“Eh, if you want to have a dance practice with me!”  
Shuka finally said stomping her words, eyes shut tight and almost bowing.

Nanaka blinked.

Then snorted.

“Why you act like if you were about to confess to me?”  
Said Nanaka with an amused tone, and feeling a weight off her shoulders, Shuka just opened her eyes wide, her cheeks becoming furious red.

Nanaka bit her lips, maybe that was too much.  
She laughed nervously.

“You are acting weird!” Nanaka said quickly.

Shuka laughed too and then gave her a sweet smile

“I’m sorry, I’m not used to this kind of things...” Shuka said scratching the back of her neck

Nanaka smiled sweetly at her

“It’s ok, so....” Nanaka said swinging on her heels “ You want to practice with me...?”

Shuka looked at her with a kind smile,

“Actually, I’m worried about you Suwa-san, it's painful to see you struggle... “

Nanaka frowned, she recalled Aina telling her the same thing before.

“I can’t stand it, so I want to help you... the same way you have been helping me with, well, everything...”

“I see...”  
Nanaka said in a sad tone, she really looked that bad in practice.

“I wanted to ask this before, but, I don’t know, you made yourself very clear the other day that you have your ‘secrets’ with Ainya, and you are busy, and I don’t know...maybe you are fine on your own...”

Nanaka looked at her with concern, none of that made sense. Was she jealous?

“Sure...” said Nanaka, Shuka just opened her eyes wide.

“Sure what?”

“Sure, let's have a dance practice...” said Nanaka with a shy smile

Shuka’s face lighted up

“Really?”

“Really” Nanaka smiled at her.

Shuka did something like a victory dance. Nanaka laughed with her.

“All right then!”

"I wanted to join a gym, but I think this is better...” said Nanaka

“A gym?” said Shuka surprised

“Yeah, I need to increase my stamina and the strength on my legs...” said Nanaka shyly

Shuka smiled wide

“I think you should anyway”

“It’s more fun with you,” said Nanaka with her cheeks wild red

Shuka gave her a full teeth smile and did a little jump on her spot

“Aww, Suwawa~!”

Indeed this was a good opportunity to practice and improve faster; in a couple of months they will have that training camp where their dance skills will be tested, and if she recalled, there are two songs left to even record, maybe they will put them to practice those songs too.

 

_I can’t even dance and sing one song and these people want me to dance and sing two more...what I’m going to do in our first Live?!_

 

Nanaka shook that thought of her head, then lifted her hand once again to see her watch, her smile faded, Shuka gave her a sad look, she knew what was coming.

“Can I walk with you?” said Shuka quickly

“I’m going to the train station...”

“Works for me!”

 

Both girls smiled at each other and exited the Lantis building walking at Nanaka’s pace towards the station.

In the way they kept the happy talking, they agreed to have their first session next week in Shuka’s house; she insisted that her room was big enough for a dance practice and Nanaka agreed.

 

**It was something weird, somehow the time flew like an arrow and in no time they needed to go in separate ways.**

**She felt a pinch in her heart, she wanted to stop the time and enjoy more time at her side; it was something warm, fresh, new, sometimes scary but good.**

**It was a feeling that filled her with anticipation, excitement and strength.**

**For her, now waking up every day and go to practice had a new meaning; see her smile and fill her soul with her presence.**

**Maybe this feeling was...**

**Love.**

 

——-**0 jump in month, August 2015. 0**——

 

August came in a blink of an eye.

Summer arrived and with it, the training camp.

 

The schedule said that they have to wait for the bus outside the Lantis building at 10:00 am sharp.

That day sure was hot even if it was that early in the morning. As for Nanaka was even hotter because her being late.

She was walking as fast as she could, with her purple luggage down the street, her glasses slightly falling from her face due to the fast walking.  
It wasn’t in her plans being this late like it wasn’t in her plans her muscles being so sore.

The production schedule this from the first meeting; 3 days 4-night training camp.

In order to break the gaps between the members, to create bonding between them and of course, to prepare them for an event in January were it supposed that they will perform not just their PV song but their first cd entirely, that means a total setlist of 3 songs, the production thought this training camp was just what they needed.

 

Nanaka arrived at the main entrance of the building, her heart almost in her throat to realize that nobody was outside, nor a bus waiting.

She stopped to catch her breath, one hand on her knees the other one grabbing her luggage.  
She was starting to sweat cold when she heard that beautiful voice that was giving her strength for the past few weeks,

“O-Suwa”

Nanaka looked at her back, she couldn’t make a smile even if she wanted to, and she almost had a heart attack.

“Wow, you look so tired already...”  
Said Shuka with a big grin, Nanaka frowned and tried to gather her strength left.

She stood upright.

“And who’s fault is that?...”  
She asked catching her breath, Shuka just smiled wide and beautifully; Nanaka’s cheeks became slightly red.

“I’m glad you came in time...”  
Said Shuka sweetly getting closer to Nanaka and grabbing her luggage, softly touching Nanaka’s fingers.  
“May I help you?”

Nanaka raised her eyebrows and tighten her lips

“You don’t have to do it you know...”  
Nanaka said shyly and withdrawing her hand from her luggage.

“I want to...” Shuka answered with a grin

“Where’s everybody? Am I the last one?”

Shuka laughed and started moving with Nanaka’s suitcase

“Believe or not, you are not the last one this time...Anchan and Aikyan wanted to buy some snacks, so we are around the corner with the vending machines; I saw you jogging so I followed you up...”

Nanaka walked by her side shyly grabbing her purse tight.

“You look absolutely adorable with your glasses...” said Shuka with a cute voice

Nanaka opened her eyes wide and tried to look somewhere else.

 

_What’s wrong with Shuka today…more important, What’s wrong with me?_

 

Nanaka looked at Shuka, her warm feeling attacking her belly again; Shuka looked so handsome, she had grey pants and a dark blue shirt, so simple yet so cute and had her hair down as always, a bit of contrast between them, Nanaka was with a cute white dress with buttons, and underneath a fluffy blouse, girly style just like her.

She could see the vending machines and her fellow companions around them.

Aikyan, King, and Anchan where looking at the machines trying to decide what to buy, Aiai was with a funny hat looking at them, while Arisa was standing there looking at her phone with what it seemed a Starbucks coffee cup in her hand.

It seemed that Aina and Rikako hadn’t arrived yet.

 

For her fellow members surprise, Nanaka had her hair down too, and that didn’t go unnoticed because it was the first thing they pointed out when they arrived at the vending machines.

“Wow, Suwawa with her hair down!”

Shouted Aiai in her amused tone; Anchan looked back at them and gave Nanaka a bow, she had a blue mask on her mouth and nose, King turned around and greet her with a bow too, she had a mask in her mouth and nose too; Aikyan, who was wearing a mask too, just looked her wallet and Arisa rose her sight to see what was Aiai talking about.

“Nice hat” answered Nanaka with her “Suwa tone”.

“Morning Suwa-san” greeted Arisa politely as always; Nanaka bowed and greeted her as well.

Shuka left Nanaka’s suitcase beside hers, Nanaka couldn’t help but noticed that Arisa had a similar suitcase; a purple one.

“So how are we going to recognize you as ‘Kanan-chan’ without your ponytail?” teased Aiai once again

“The same way we have to recognize you without Ruby’s red hair”  
Retorted Nanaka without thinking that maybe she sounded a bit harsh, everybody laughed so it wasn’t a big deal.

“So what should I take?” asked Anchan to Aikyan

“I think I don’t have enough for that coffee” answered Aikyan back, King mumbled something but being with the mask was difficult to catch.

“Did you forget your contacts again?” asked Arisa with a soft tone

Nanaka grabbed her purse firmly and looked at her

“Yes, I was late and forgot them...” she said with her calm “Suwa tone”

 

_And because of that, I couldn’t do my hair properly too..._

 

“You don’t have any spare ones?” tried Arisa once again, trying to make some conversation with Nanaka

Nanaka was about to answer but Anchan interrupted

“No~ crap! The machine ate my coins!”

“That’s because of the little demon!” said Aiai in her teasing tone to Aikyan

“Hey! That’s not true!” squeeked Aikyan

“Crap! I really wanted that one! I need it!.” Anchan pouted.

It was something cute.

Nanaka smiled sweetly, and moved to open her purse; she took out her wallet searching for cash

“It’s that Aida-san?”  
Asked Arisa in a sweet tone putting away her phone, Shuka and Aiai looked over, and yes it was, she was walking towards the vending machine as well.

“It seems that the gang is complete,” said Aikyan looking at Rikyako

“Aina is missing,” said Nanaka in a monotone

“Oh, right, that’s why it was so quiet...” said Aikyan looking at the machine once again; it seems that she finally decided.

“Morning~!” said Rikako stopping on the other side of the vending machine.

Shuka, Arisa, and Aiai greeted her; Nanaka took her cash and gave it to Anchan

“Really?” asked surprised Anchan

“Yeah sure”

Anchan took the money and started to mess with the machine once again; Nanaka took her luggage with one hand and shared some glances with Shuka, she gave her a warm smile.

 

“Guys, is that man recording us with a camera?”  
Asked Arisa with concern looking down the street where Rikako had just arrived, everybody took a little glimpse of where Arisa was looking; indeed, a man with a handy camera was approaching.

“Oh, my!” said Rikako turning around

“Ok let’s act natural!” said Aiai to Shuka

“Yes~” shouted Shuka with energy

Nanaka put her wallet away, while King, Aikyan, and Anchan quickly moved to the machines to “cover” from the camera.

Shuka and Aiai, both started to make a weird dance and laugh,

“How’s that natural?” asked Rikako with a giggle

“Well, it is natural for this two dorks to act like this,” said Arisha

Everybody laughed

The cameraman got there, recorded Rikako first, she just smiled back, then it recorded the whole group

“Say Hi to the camera!”  
He said with a happy tone while he returned to Rikako; she smiled back and waved her hands, he moved the camera again to the group; Anchan bent down to receive her product from the machine, Arisa combed her hair, King just looked the other way, while Akyan waved her hand shyly looking to somewhere else.

“Oh my god, this is too much,” said in a mocking tone Aiai “I’m not ready for the fans and paparazzi’s!”  
She said grabbing her cheeks

“What the hell Aiai?!” laughed Shuka

Nanaka just smiled shyly looking to somewhere else.

“C’mon girls from  _Aqours_ , don’t be shy, and say hi”  
He tried again and moved the camera to record the whole group; Arisa just took a sip of the straw from her coffee, Anchan waved with her product on her hand, King made a shy wave and Aikyan waved this time facing the camera.

Nanaka just giggled.

“Sorry, but who are you?”  
Said Arisa with a hard tone and coffee cup in hand; she had a strict posture

“Yeah tell him,  _Onee-chan_!” said Aiai in Ruby’s voice; that made some of the girls giggle.

“Oh sorry,” said the man and he stopped recording  
“I’m from the production, I’m the one in charge of recording your training camp”

He introduced himself and then he bowed, the girls greeted him and bowed as well.

“Just one of you came to the meeting point, and we are really late, so…. I’m glad I found everybody here…”

“One of us?” said Aikyan with a surprised tone

“Aina must be in front of the building….” said Arisa making sense

“Poor, she might be alone waiting all this time!” said King

Everybody agreed and started moving forward to the main entrance of the Lantis building, were of course, there was a grey bus waiting, a bunch of people from the production, the Chief of staff of course with his two assistants, the dance teachers and there she was, short like no one else in this group; Suzuki Aina.

 

“You guys!” she said in her high pitch “ you suck! You left me all alone~!”

“You were so late~!” retorted Aiai in a high pitch as well

“That wasn’t my fault~!” said again Aina increasing the tone

“Ok, you two! Its ok, “ said King cutting them of “…men you are loud!”

While King was setting things with the two tiny loud beings, everybody started to put their luggage inside the bus, then, before they could aboard it, the Chief of staff and his two assistants greeted them.

 

“We are really late!” he started, the girls shrugged on their spot.  
“Well, we don’t have much time, my assistant will give you the training camp plan for these next 3 days, please be on schedule…”

Everybody nodded.

“ I see you already meet our cameraman! Please don’t be shy around him, we will shoot a VTR of this training camp, the idea is to show it on the event in January…”

All the girls looked at each other with concern, maybe the only one who wasn’t worried was Arisa, and that’s because she is used to cameras by now.

“Ok with nothing more to say, please do your best! Let's Go!”

He said and did a movement with his hand to start boarding the bus.

 

The girls were gathered at the bus entrance, the door slowly started to open.

“What happened Ainya?” Aiai asked in a normal tone, loud enough for everyone to hear

“I live just too far, it’s too difficult for me to get on time this early….” she said in her normal tone

“It’s not ‘that’ early...” retorted Aiai

“Well, you made it, now let's go!” said Aikyan getting inside, Aina followed thru

Nanaka’s attention was snapped out from the situation when she felt a warm hand grabbing her arm she looked at her right.

“Shukashuu~”

Shuka smiled warmly at her

“Would you sit with me…?” she asked shyly

Nanaka blinked a few time, her cheeks becoming red; Shuka was just too cute and sweet for her.

“Of course,” said Nanaka with a smile; Shuka gave her a wide smile in return.

Nanaka looked to her front once again to get into the bus, she couldn’t help but to hear how Rikako was asking Arisa to share the seat, it took her attention because, why would anybody will seat with Arisa?, she had been so harsh with them, she is so serious all the time, what would you possible talk with her about? well, it’s not that Aida-san was any better, maybe they both were meant for each other.

They were so quiet.

 

_What am I thinking? I’m that quiet and boring too…. Maybe a subunit with the three of us would be boring as hell…. why does Shuka want to seat with me anyway…?_

 

Aikyan was seated at the back with Aina, on the next row was King with Aiai, the next ones were Nanaka with Shuka and then Arisa with Rikako.

Anchan was the last one to get on the bus; she just stood there in front and looked at them

“Eh?!…. Why I’m the one left alone!”

“Because you are the leader!” shouted Aiai from her seat, everybody laughed.

“You are the mascot! you should be seated alone!” Anchan pouted

“No! I’m with ‘Hanamaru-chan’!” said Aiai with her Ruby’s voice, King did a motion to hug Aiai

“You can seat in front of us”  
Said Nanaka with a soft tone, it was hard to Anchan to hear it because King and Aiai were making too much noise, Shuka repeated what Nanaka said and showed her the seat beside hers on the other side of the aisle.

Anchan smiled and seated where she was pointed.

 

“Ok, everybody!”  
Said the Chief of staff getting on the bus, followed by his assistance, and the cameraman.  
“Let's go!”

All the girls shouted unison “yeah!” and in no time the bus started to move.

 

Nanaka sighed and tried to relax in her seat, she suffers from motion sickness so she blinked a few times looking outside the window, then she felt that it was too bright, she was tearing up, so she was closing the curtains when she felt that Shuka was searching for something in her bag.

“What’s wrong?” Nanaka asked with concern

Shuka looked at her, then gave her a wide smile

“I brought you this…” she said shyly and taking out a little white box

Nanaka opened her eyes wide; those were her contacts.

“Shuka…” she said in a whisper voice, Shuka smiled even wider, full teeth smile

“It was my fault that you ‘forgot’ your contacts…”

Nanaka took the little box and looked at her in awe

“Do you expect to dance with your glasses on?”

“Well,” Nanaka shrugged, “ It’s not that I had another option had I?”

Nanaka took off her glasses and gave it to Shuka to hold on

“What? Are you going to put them on here?!”  
Said Shuka taking the glasses and looked at her in awe

“Of course, I don’t stand to be with my glasses ’in public’”  
Said Nanaka opening the little box

“But the bus is moving!” said Shuka in shock

“Then don’t distract me…”  
Said Nanaka with her “Suwa tone”, focused in one of her contacts; Shuka looked at her with her eyes widen

“Ne ne, whats happening?” asked Anchan from her seat

Shuka sightly turned with her index on her lips making a sound to be quiet.

“O-Suwa is concentrating” she whispered.

“Oh…” said Anchan

Shuka turned to Nanaka she was blinking fiercely.

“Are you ok?” asked sweetly Shuka, Nanaka nodded

“What are you concentrating on?!” asked in a loud voice Aiai from her seat

“Who’s concentrating?!” asked Aikyan from the back

“Suwa-san!” shouted Anchan to the back

“Oh my God the bus is going to explode!” said Aiai

“Suwa power!”  
Shouted Aikyan followed by some sound effects of explosions and such from King and Aiai, while as a BGM was Aina’s old man laugh.

Nanaka looked at Shuka with a deadpan look, Shuka shrugged with a smile; Nanaka took the other contact.

“What is she concentrating about?”  
Surprisingly asked Rikako turning around to see Anchan and Shuka

“I don’t know, some secret stuff with Shukashuu,” said loud Anchan with a mocking smile; this was their game

Shuka opened her eyes wide with discomfort, while everybody on the bus did some mocking sounds.

“Oh c’mon!” shouted Shuka, her cheeks becoming red “ she is putting on her contacts!”

Everybody laughed

When the silence came again to the bus, Arisa spoke loud too,

“I thought you forgot them!”

Nanaka was blinking fiercely trying to accommodate her contact somehow ignoring the entire bus mocking.

“Seems she found them!”  
Said Shuka loud again, and then she gave Anchan a serious look to stop the teasing.

Anchan stuck out her tongue and sat straight in her seat.

Somehow, the sounds on the bus turned into some soft murmurs with some laughter from time to time.

 

“I’m sorry…” said Shuka with a sad tone, giving Nanaka her glasses back

Nanaka took it and without saying a thing she grabbed her purse, searched for her glasses case and put them away.

“Are you mad…?” asked Shuka with a sweet but sad tone, Nanaka looked at her and blinked a few time

“What? Why should I?”

“Eh?” Shuka blinked not understanding, “The mocking…?” she said softly

“Don’t pay any mind…” said Nanaka sweetly, and then she put her purse away and smile at her.

Shuka looked at her in awe, blinking a few times, indeed, Nanaka without her glasses looked way cuter.

Shuka’s cheeks became wild red

“Suwa-san…”  
She said softly and in a low tone, looking straight into Nanaka’s eyes, Nanaka rose her eyebrows

“About yester—“

“Stop!” Nanaka said whispering and putting one finger on Shuka’s lips; Nanaka could see with the corner of her eyes Anchan taking some glances towards them.

Shuka raised her eyebrows and tightened her lips. Nanaka withdraw her index out of Shuka’s lips.

“I don’t think you want to have that kind of conversation here…” she said whispering

Shuka nodded, then gave her a sad look  
“Sorry…”

She said sitting straight in her seat looking at her feet

Nanaka looked at her with a sad expression too; she bit her lips, then she sat straight too and smoothly grabbed Shuka’s right hand with her left hand, Shuka did a little jump in surprise, then looked at her with the corner of her eyes, Nanaka smiled sweetly at her.

“We will talk later…” Nanaka said softly while caressing Shuka’s hand

Shuka smiled and entwined her fingers with Nanaka’s

“Thanks for bringing my contacts,” said Nanaka with a shy smile

“Sure!” said Shuka with her happy tone.

 

They continued a friendly and happy talk about other stuff, like Nanaka’s radio show, this topic made Anchan to be filled in; then Anchan talked about her roleplaying in theatres, while Anchan was in their conversation, of course, Nanaka left Shuka’s hand, and when she did, Shuka gave her a sad and shy smile, but she understood that if anyone see this kind of behaviour it will gain them some comments or more teasing.

 

“Ok girls from _‘Aqours’_ say Hi!”

Suddenly the cameraman said again, he just stood in his seat with the camera looking back at the girls; like in cue everybody stopped their chitchat to said a loud “hi!”, wave and laughed.

The man just said an energetic “thank you” and returned to his seat, the girls returned to their chitchat.

 

“I’m not used to it yet,” said Nanaka softly

“To the camera?” asked Shuka

“Yeah, that too”

“What do you mean?” asked Anchan

“I mean being called ‘ _Aqours_ ’ it’s weird...”  
Said Nanaka with her straight face; Shuka smiled at her

“Oh yeah, I know what you mean, its like when the Lead teacher called me as ‘Chika-chan’ instead of ‘Inami-san’, the first time I was like ‘eh? You talking to me?’”  
Said Anchan almost with Chika’s voice; Shuka giggled at that

“Well I can understand that; they want us to be one with the characters, but to treat us with the name of the group, I’m not used to it yet,—“ said Nanaka

“Yes, at the beginning was like ‘girls do this’ ‘girls do that’ now it’s ‘ _Aqours’,_ Yeah it sounds weird to me too...” said Shuka

“I found the name lovely...” said Anchan

 

Is not that the name wasn’t lovely. It was something new that they will have to get used to it.

Aqours was the name the fans picked for this new group of idols; the same way μ’s was picked in their moment.

The whole idea of this franchise rested on their fans and so ever. The latest issues of the Dengeki G’ magazine had polls about the characters personalities and now the name of the group, probably on the next issues they will ask about the subunits formations or maybe a poll of popularity between the characters members.

The thing was that the fans are those who are making the final decisions and they have to bear with it. No matter what they choose.

After all, everything is for the fans and that includes they got on a bus and ride a few hours from Tokyo to who knows where and have this training camp.

 

After a considerable amount of time, the bus made their first stop.

For Nanaka it was not long because she was chatting with Shuka, Anchan, and Rikako (it seems that Arisa fell asleep somewhere on the road), it made her lose her sense of time, but it seemed they were quite far away in the countryside.

The cameraman stood on his seat from time to time to take more shots of the girl on the bus in their respective chitchat sessions, and when the bus stopped, was the first one to take off.

 

“Are we there already?” asked Anchan

“I think we are not,” said Rikako moving back to Arisa

“Girls! since we started late we had to stop here halfway to have some lunch!”  
Said the Chief of staff, moving forward to take off from the bus  
“So let’s go, let’s eat something”

“Good I’m hungry!” said happily Shuka standing up, she looked at Nanaka  
“You didn’t have breakfast haven’t you?”

Nanaka looked at her with her “Suwa face”, then she rose an eyebrow

“I couldn’t... ‘I was late’...”

“Thought so, be careful with my bag on the floor,”  
Said Shuka moving forward to leave the bus; Nanaka grabbed her purse and moved too, she stood on the aisle and she couldn’t help to see Rikako moving softly Arisa’s arm trying to wake her up

“Hey...Komiya-san.... wake up sleepy head...”

Arisa moved and gave Rikako a sweet smile

“Are we there yet?...”

“No, we stopped to have some lunch...are you hungry?”

Rikako gave her a sweet smile while caressing softly Arisa’s arm

This was somehow a little too sweet for Nanaka’s taste coming from these two.

 

_Okay..._

 

Nanaka shook her head and moved forward to the door.

She saw Shuka stretching herself out of the bus; Nanaka couldn’t help but smile.

That weird feeling kicking her belly once again, maybe she was really hungry after all...?

“Yo~! Suwawa, move!”

She heard King’s voice from the back, she blinked and left the bus with everybody close behind.

 

They stopped in a traditional restaurant; it seems that they weren’t expecting this amount of customers so the girls had to wait outside of it while the people of the production arranged the tables with the people of the restaurant.

 

“First years” of course, started to fool around on the parking lot taking pictures and joking about the rural area; Shuka and Anchan went to the toilet, it seemed that Anchan had a problem in one of her ankles and she needed to change some bandages; Arisa and Rikako got inside the restaurant; Aina and Nanaka stood outside looking at “First years” like two parents watching their children.

 

“I’m amazed how energetic are those three, you never get bored”  
Said Aina with her old man tone

“I could tell, you never stopped laughing Suzuki-san,” said in monotone Nanaka

“Suzu–“ Aina snorted “aw!, Suwawa don’t call me like that!” she said in her high pitch, Nanaka looked at her with surprise

“I consider you close enough for you to call me Ainya”

Nanaka blinked

“Call me Ainya!” she said again with a cute tone and little jumps on her spot

 

 _Cute_.

 

Nanaka hummed

“Don’t you ‘hummed me’, that’s the point of all this training camp thing! To break this gaps between the members, how are you supposed to do it if you keep addressing us with our last names and such”

“I’m not used to it”

“Bullshit! I haven’t heard you calling Shukashuu ‘Saito-san’” Aina said with a bit of bitterness in her voice, Nanaka rose her eyebrows

“Well.....she is younger than—...”

“Am I younger than you!”  
Cut Aina off with her high tone, opening her eyes wide and moving her arms in indignation, Nanaka shut her lips tight.

 

_What’s happening here....?_

 

Aina gave her a coy smile, then she sighted

“I’m gonna be jealous....” said Aina in a teasing tone

“Why? You shouldn’t...”

“Because you treat her so well, I wanna be treated like that too~!”  
Said Aina in a cute and mellow tone, Nanaka blinked a few times, saw “First years” coming back to the restaurant entrance, then looked back at Aina.

She smiled at her.

“Let’s go, Ainya”  
And moved on entering the restaurant in her unique and classic pace.

Aina was left there at the entrance looking at her in awe.

 

The Inside of the restaurant was traditional too, it was like an old tatami room with larges and low tables; Nanaka saw Arisa and Rikako moving forward to one of the tables, she followed them.

The Chief of staff gathered the girls and asked them to take a seat on the first table on the corner next to the window.

“First years” got inside the restaurant making lots of noise as always, Aina in other hand looked puzzled.

Nanaka frowned; maybe she was a little harsh? But why? Aina was a good girl, and she had a good treat by Nanaka, but something was odd, it wasn’t the same warm feeling in her belly that she felt when Shuka was around.

 

Anyways, she shook her head, and moved forward to the table; she was the first one so she took the first place near the window.

At her side, a noisy Aiai took a seat followed by Aikyan and King.

For Nanaka’s surprise, Arisa took a seat in front of her, Nanaka greeted her with a surprise face, Arisa just gave her an unspeakable look with her expressive eyes.

“Hey! I wanted to seat there!” said Rikako to Anchan with a pout

Anchan just laugh and stuck her tongue out

“I’m sorry Aida-san, I got this seat first!”  
Said Anchan who sat next to Arisa, Rikako had no other choice to sit next to Anchan with a prominent frown on her face.

Shuka and Aina stood looking at the table, for Nanaka’s surprise, both looked at her; Aina smile at her shyly while Shuka made a sad face.

“Ainya! Come sit next to me” said King with a happy grin.

Aina didn’t think twice and sat next to her, Shuka in another hand, sat next to Rikako looking with a pout at Aiai

“What?” said Aiai with a mocking tone

“I wanted to seat next O-Suwa,” she said pouting

Everybody giggled

“C’mon you two!” said Arisa with her diligent tone “ You had been on the bus with Suwa-san all this time and Aida-san had been with me, we can share, that’s the point in this right?”

“Certainly,” said King

Everybody agreed, but Shuka just pouted more.

Nanaka didn’t say anything, she looked at Shuka with a tiny smile and nodded at her, Shuka answered with a smile then she nodded back.

Nanaka caught Aina looking at her too; Aina gave her a big smile.

Nanaka was puzzled

 

_What’s that supposed to mean?_

 

Suddenly the Chief of staff and the cameraman sat on the table with the girls too, of course, everybody was sitting on the floor.

The Chief of staff sat next to Shuka while the cameraman next to Aina.

“I hope you girls don’t mind if we sit with you,” said the cameraman

“Well, it’s part of the exercise too, the people of the staff is here too to make the gap between members short,” said the Chief with his hard tone

 

_Well, if he wants to befriend us he has to stop talking like that..._

 

It seems that everybody felt a little bit uncomfortable with the Chief of the staff there; in a way was like sitting with your boss, of course, it makes you feel nervous. 

 

So, the specialty of the restaurant was some hot and delicious pot with veggies.

The production asked for a few big pots for everybody, with some rice to eat with it.

In no time those pots came to the tables were a few members started to pour them into small bowls.

 

“Ok, I want to record this moment,” said suddenly the cameraman taking out the handy camera out.

“But we are not there yet,” said Shuka with concern

“This is not part of the camp” added Aina

“The camp started the moment you got into the bus,” said the Chief of staff giving his bowl to King for her to pour him some food.

All the girls made surprise sounds, King almost drops the food out of the bowl.

“Ok I’m set,” said the cameraman looking for the girls.

“Oh my God, this is just too embarrassing, “ said Anchan hiding, Arisa just looked at her with pity eyes, everybody giggled.

Nanaka actually didn’t mind, being seated where she was, it was difficult for the cameraman to get her.

“Ok then~,” said Shuka with her full teeth smile “ we have to do our best!”

“That’s the spirit!” said King taking Aina’s bowl and starting pouring her some of the veggies.

“Ok on cue, 1,2~,” said the cameraman

All the girls just said a loud “ _itadakimasu_ ”, giggled and started digging in.

 

“Oh my, this is delicious,” said Arisa taking a bite of her veggies, her eyes widen up.

Nanaka just took a look at her meal, it didn’t look tasty actually, but she couldn’t be picky about it, so she started digging in too.

“So, Komiya-san, “ started Anchan “ I heard that you were a power ranger”  
She said with her happy and naive tone.

Nanaka snorted at the same time with Aiai; Arisa opened her eyes wide with her chopsticks between her lips and looked at Anchan with disapproval

“She was the yellow power ranger actually”  
Added King on the other side of the table, people started to giggle

“Kanako-san!” said Arisa with her cheeks becoming slightly red.  
  
_Kanako…? These two are close…_

“And you could see her prominent forehead, now it looks normal because of her hair bangs” finished King pouring more veggies into her bowl, everybody continued giggling

“That’s not fair Kanako, why don’t you tell everyone about you singing dressed like a country animal”  
Said annoyed Arisa; Aiai opened her mouth wide, Aikyan almost choked, Aina laughed like an old man with the Chief of staff, Shuka just smiled sweetly, Rikako gave a nod to Arisa while Anchan was playing with her veggies.

No one was safe for the teasing in this group.

Nanaka looked at Arisa, then at King, it seemed that they became good friends after this few months, or maybe they knew each other from before?

It was hard to know, between the 9 of them the interactions were kind of segregated, Arisa was always with Rikako, Aina or King, Shuka was always with her or Anchan, Aiai was always with Aika and King; they moved like in sub groups.

Well, that’s what’s this training camp was trying to do; to bond everybody.

 

“What happened to your ankle, Anchan?” asked Aiai, somehow Nanaka missed the entire “power ranger” topic.

“Oh, it’s a minor sprain,” said Anchan without a care in a world, like she was used to

“How did you get it?” Insisted Aiai

“I do karate”

Her statement was followed by a unison “Oh~”

“Would you be able to dance now?” asked Nanaka with concern

“Of course I will! I’ve been looking forward to this training camp since February, there’s no way I could miss this!”

“Yes! This our ‘Chika-chan’,” said Aiai with enthusiasm

“Yes it would look terrible if ‘our leader’ wasn’t here”  
Said Arisa taking a rice portion, looking at Aiai with a smile, then she looked at Nanaka and gave her a troubled look; Nanaka just raised her eyebrows and placed some of the veggies in her mouth. It was tasty after all.

 

“Something the matter?”  
Asked finally Arisa minutes later, ignoring completely the nice conversation the rest of the girls were having.

Nanaka put her chopsticks on top of her bowl, the sign that she was done eating, looked at her and shook her head.

“You have issues with me”  
Sentenced Arisa in a low tone, Nanaka raised her eyebrows again, then blinked.  
“I can tell, I’m not a fool”

Nanaka remained silent and looked straight into her eyes, she gave Arisa her “Suwa face”

She was about to tell her something when Aiai came to save the day

“Oh, I remember now!” she shouted, making Arisa and Nanaka jump into their seats because of the tension

“What?” asked Arisa with a surprised tone

“You do  _gravure!”_  
She said pointing Arisa, that statement took every look on the table. Arisa’s cheek became red; she opened her eyes wide in shock.

Nanaka gave her another look, a teased one.

“Oh~ I would love to see that!” shouted Aina in her old man tone from the other side of the table

“I knew I saw you before, and it wasn’t in the power ranger thing,” said Aiai with her loud tone

“Is she in magazines?” asked Shuka

“Yes Yes, and with almost no clothes on~,” said Aiai

Everybody made some teasing sounds, even the Chief of the staff made a singular and loud laugh, that made the girls laugh more about his kind of laugh than the statement of Arisa in few clothes.

Arisa was drowned in embarrassment

“Oh~ I bet she has a nice body!” said Aina again with her old man tone

“Doh! She has!” added King looking at her side

“It’s not difficult to see that....” said in small voice Rikako

“We would love to see your  ** _nice body_** **~** ” shouted Aina from the other side of the table

Nanaka just blinked and turned her attention outside the window.

 

_Her nice body... yes she has a nice body, like Kanan’s._

_Damn it, Kanan, you and your nice body are hunting me!_

_Why would they pick me? Why they didn’t ask Komiya-san to do it in the first place...? Is it too different from Dia?_

 

Even if she wondered that now, there’s nothing she could actually do, but do her job.

She has to portray this new Kanan they made for her and leave Arisa alone, it wasn’t her fault.

 

Nanaka was snapped out her daydream when she felt everybody standing up; lunchtime was over and they needed to get back to the bus to start for once this training camp.

The place they were heading it’s called “Sound village”, it’s located a few hours from Tokyo near Yamanakako and it’s near Lake Yamanaka in the Kanagawa prefecture.

For what the Chief of staff said, it’s a special place for musicians and artists, the place has soundproof rooms, and of course a room for them to record and practice. The place was designed to refugee big amount of people; almost complete productions and staff, that’s why almost all the crew of the Sunshine project was there.

 

They returned to the bus once again, this time happier and fully, of course, the cameraman took the opportunity to take more shots of the girls boarding the bus, this time the girls smiled at the camera and wave with more confidence.

The girls returned to their respective seats; Shuka grabbed Nanaka’s arm at the moment she sat.

“I’ve missed you...” she whispered

Nanaka jumped in her seat and looked at her with her eyebrows rose

“Shukashuu~,” she said in a singsong voice and gave her a sweet smile

“Did you enjoy lunch?” said Shuka seating more comfortable still grabbing Nanaka’s arm.

Nanaka blinked a few times

“Well, it was good,” she said with an unconvincing voice, Shuka’s smile fades a bit

“Are you mad with Komiya-san?” she asked in a whisper voice knowing that someone could hear them.

Nanaka shut her lips tight and looked at Shuka straight in her eyes, that weird feeling in her belly started kicking in; the bus suddenly started to move again.

“No, I’m not”

She said a few minutes later

“Uhm, I can’t believe you, if you have to think about your answer”

“Why do you ask?” said Nanaka in a normal tone

“I saw you... I don’t know, both of you talking seriously...”

Nanaka blinked a few time; she glued her sight to the front seat where Arisa was actually seated.

The first thing that came to her mind was: why Shuka was looking at her during lunch?  
She was seated on the other side of the table, then she kicked that thought to the back of her mind, maybe it was too obvious her “thing” with Arisa, then again, Arisa Komiya doesn’t even know why she was ... mad? She doesn’t even know what she feels about that the production it’s going to give part of her job to Arisa because she didn’t fit the production expectations, if she needs to be mad or angry it’s with herself for not being up for the task.

But that it’s not a thing for Shuka to know; Shuka really looked up for her, her “O-Suwa image” can’t be stained by something like that, enough with sucking in the dance thing.

Nanaka blinked again, looked at Shuka and gave her a smile

“We are two serious people, we don’t fool around like all of you”

Shuka made an “o” mouth, then gave her full teeth smile

“Should I be angry about that comment or should I take it as a compliment?” asked Shuka with a concerned tone

“I don’t know, sometimes all of you are just too loud, noisy and unbearable,” said Nanaka without a care in a world

“What?! O-Suwa are you for real?” Shuka said with her eyes widen and her voice raising a few tones, enough for the rest to hear her.

“What? What is she for real?” asked Anchan from the other side of the aisle

“What, what?” said Aiai, followed by another “what” from King.

Shuka looked at Nanaka with a concerned look; Nanaka just shrugged and gave Shuka and Anchan her “Suwa face”

“That’s why we are two serious people...”

She finally said turning to look out of the window, she could felt Shuka pouting and Anchan feeling lost about the topic.

In no time Shuka and Anchan started talking about some nonsenses; Nanaka heard that Arisa and Rikako were vividly talking too, and of course, “First years” plus Aina were making all the bus soundtrack with their constants laughter and loud chitchat.

 

_Loud, noisy and unbearable..._

 

 

 

Finally, after what Nanaka felt forever this time, they got there, Sound Village.

Like the name suggests, it was like a village.

There were lots of wooden cottages with different colors and shapes, and they were displaced in an “L” design with lots of trees surrounding them.

It felt like a village lost in the woods in the middle of nowhere.

Maybe it was.

The bus finally stopped in the parking lot with a few other cars of the production.

The girls got down the bus and took their luggage with them to one of the biggest cottages in the village, it seems that it was the reception or front desk.  
  
They entered the building following the Chief of Staff and his assistants.  
While the Chief of the staff was talking to the nice receptionist, the girls were amazed by the inside.  
It was cozy and warm; it was big enough for them to be there, it had yellow walls filled with some round decorations, brick floor and a place with tables, chairs and a shelve filled with magazines.  
The girls stopped in this spot at the reception.  
  
“Hey! Girls look at this!”  
Said Aikyan with enthusiasm, dropping her luggage there in the middle of the room, she jogged to the shelves with the magazines and grabbed one.  
  
Aiai and King jogged too with her bags around to see what happened. Nanaka took Aikyan's luggage from the middle of the room and placed it in one of the tables, Shuka helped her with her own luggage, then both shared a shy smile.  
  
“Suwa-san..., “ said Shuka shyly, Nanaka turned at her with concern, what happened to her “Osuwa” name?.  
  
“ You think I’m loud, noisy and unbearable...?” asked Shuka with a sad tone  
“Eh?”  
“You said that we were like that... it's that what do you think about me?”  
  
Nanaka left her purse on top of the table and looked at Shuka with a frown, they look into each other eyes; Shuka had a sad face, a sad tone and was playing with her fingers. 

“We talked yesterday about what I think about you...” said Nanaka softly 

Shuka gave her a shy smile

“Listen,” said Nanaka while she rose her right index; Shuka opened her eyes wide and shut her mouth tight.

 

The room was filled with loud squeals, laughter, and noisy sounds. 

Everybody was gathered around Aikyan and her magazine, except for Nanaka, Shuka, Rikako, and Arisa. 

The five girls left were all making lot of fuss over the magazine.

Rikako and Arisa were with the Chief of staff and his assistants at the front desk.

Nanaka gave Shuka a sweet smile, Shuka answered with big full teeth one.

“Now you get what I mean?”

“Yes I think I do,” Shuka said with a nod.

“I can’t speak for Komiya-san or Aida-san, but I’m a shy and quiet person, this kind of noise perturbed me”

“You are right,” said Shuka

 

Suddenly the five girls made a really loud squeal and laughter, it frightened Nanaka and Shuka on their spot; both of them looked at the girls, like on cue, the girls turned around with big laughs in their faces; Aikyan was with the magazine in her hands, Nanaka could see the magazine clearly, it was the latest issue of the Dengeki’s G magazine. 

She opened her eyes wide.

 

_Oh my God, this again..._

 

“Suwawa! Have you seen this?”   
Said Aikyan opening the magazine and showing it to Shuka and Nanaka; Shuka covered her mouth with her hands, while Nanaka put on her “Suwa face”  
  
It was a full-page picture of a wet Kanan on her knees opening really sexy her diving suit, showing her breast with a bikini, of course, showing her “nice body” while winking.  
Really sexy and suggestive.

“Yes, yesterday,” she said dryly

“I would love to see you doing this,” said Aina in her old man tone with a smile on her face

Nanaka rose an eyebrow and could hear Shuka whispering behind her hands a soft “me too”

“It’s a fictional character,” said Nanaka dryly again

“But it supposed to be portrayed by you,” said Aiai

“Just the voice, I don’t have that nice body,” said Nanaka in a sad tone and taking her eyes away from the magazine

“Maybe Komiya-san can do it, she has the body and the personality,” Nanaka said

“I don’t see  _oneechan_ doing something like this,” said Aiai in Ruby’s voice giggling 

“Well it doesn’t fit Dia-san’s character,” said Shuka

“What? What doesn’t fit in my character?” asked Arisa coming back from the front desk with some keys in her hand, Rikako was at her side.

“This,” said Aikyan showing the magazine 

“Oh,” said Arisa, then instantly looked at Nanaka  
“That, it doesn’t fit with Suwa-san” 

“Nor with Dia,” said Nanaka 

“That’s correct, 'Dia-san' is a very delicate lady, she just couldn’t do something so bold and ordinary like 'Kanan-san'”  
  
Nanaka frowned.  
It seems that all the giggles and the good mood suddenly vanish.

Tension grew thick in the air.  
  
“Well, I’ll love to see Suwawa in a wet and tight diving suit!”  
Said Aina in her old man tone with a goofy smile looking at Nanaka; her cheeks became wild red

Her statement made the girls laugh, except for Nanaka and Arisa, both shared a polite look and then left the topic because the Chief of staff with the rest of the staff took place there to get some instructions from the Chief.  
  
“Good afternoon everyone, we are finally here!”  
Said the Chief of staff with his harsh tone, he had a sheet of paper in his hands.  
Everybody remained silent.

“Let’s set some things clear; You received this morning the schedule for the training camp, please be on time and follow it rigorously,”  
He lifted his hand and started reading the sheet of paper,  
  
“Second, this is the reception, here you can find people from the village if you have any doubt about the facilities, you can find people from 10:00 am to 20:00 pm, there are ice, hot water and a microwave 24/7 free of charge,”  
He looked at his back and pointed another shelve in front of the reception

“There you can find Ramen, its available 24 hours, it's not free of course”  
All people nodded, He kept reading.

“Next, Aqours members will be sleeping in ‘Lodge 202’, I believe its the cottage next door and has two floors, it has its own bathroom. The dance teacher and my assistants will be sharing the cottage with them. This lodge is for 16 people so don’t worry about the space,“

The girls look at each other, of course, they will be sleeping together, the thing about this training camp was to bond with each other.

“The rest of the staff, including myself, we will be in ‘Lodge 201’, which is next to the other one.”  
He turned around the sheet of paper  
“About the meals, there is a restaurant; the breakfast, lunch, and dinner is over there, the hours of the meals are on your schedules; also there is a Spa if the bathroom on your rooms are always crowded or whatever”

He looked at his people, everybody looked excited, he gave the paper to one of his assistants then he cleared his voice once again.

“Ok, that said, let's start; the training program we designed for all of you includes dance training, vocal training, P.E. and the recording of the two new songs.”   
The girls opened their eyes wide,

 

_Two songs?! I thought it was going to be one for now..._

 

The Chief of Staff checked his watch

“Are we on schedule?” he asked to one of his assistant, the one of the creepy notebook, she nodded  
  
“Ok, everybody go to your rooms and settle, in an hour I want everybody ready, Aqours members have dance practice in studio A/B, while the rest of the staff will be setting everything to start recording in studio C; please do your best!”

Everybody said a loud “ Yes!”.

 

The girls got out from the cottage with their luggage in hand; like the Chief of staff said, “Lodge 202” was right next to the reception cottage so they didn’t have to walk that much with the luggage.

The cottage didn’t look that big, it was white with two floors; you could clearly see that “Lodge 201” was stuck to its left.

Arisa had the keys so she was first and opened it for the rest.

Everybody got in; it looked comfy and warm too, it was actually bigger than it looked like from the outside.

The first thing they could see entering the place was the bathroom/toilet to the left. Then there was a big space, and 4 futons were displaced on the floor.

The room was big with yellow walls and wooden floor.

 

“Ok girls,” said the Lead teacher with her unforgettable tone, all girls paid attention to her

“The teachers and the assistants will take the first floor; the nine of you should be on the second floor”

With that said, Anchan, Aiai, Aikyan, and King ran to the second floor almost stomping into each other.

Arisa shook her head in disapproval and started moving to the stairs.

Aina and Rikako were looking the bathroom/toilet, while Nanaka and Shuka stood there in the middle of the room.

“You are not coming?” asked Shuka moving to the stairs

“Yes... I didn’t imagine this place was so big,” said Nanaka still and looking around, Shuka stopped her steps to look at Nanaka, she smiled shyly

“Osuwa-san...” She called softly, Nanaka looked at her 

“Can we...” she started shyly, her cheeks becoming slightly red; she began to play with her fingers

“Can we what?” said Nanaka walking towards Shuka

“Awww Suwawa!” said Aina jogging by her side and grabbing her arm  
“Let’s sleep together!”

Nanaka opened her eyes wide. Shuka did the same thing

“What?!” asked Nanaka being dragged to the stairs, while Shuka bit her lips.

“Yo~ King!” shouted Aina from the first floor starting to go up on the stairs

“Yes?!” You could hear King answering

“Reserve me two futons!”

“Wait, Ainya!” said Nanaka with troubles to go up on the stairs with her luggage 

“I think you hesitated too much,” said Rikako standing at Shuka’s side

“Hum,” She said looking how Nanaka disappeared with difficulties with her luggage.

 

The second floor was way bigger, actually higher.

There were 9 futons on the floor and another toilet. In front of the stairs, there was a mini fridge and a few shelves.

Nanaka stood there to appreciate the room, and because she was tired to carry her luggage all the way to the second floor.

“C’mon! It’s not like you carried me bride style all the way here,” Aina said in a teasing tone looking how tired Nanaka was

“Someday I will...” said Nanaka catching her breath, that statement gave Aina a wild red tone on her cheeks.

“Aina it’s ok over here?” said King beside two futons in the corner of the room

“Uhh~ in the corner, nice...” she said in her old man tone walking towards King

  
_Why is that nice?... there are spiders on corners..._

 

Nanaka stood there looking at a happy Aina going to the corner with King; she left her stuff in one of the futons and then turned around to look at Nanaka with a wide and sweet smile, they shared that smile, then Aina’s smile faded.

Nanaka rose her eyebrows with concern  
“Are you going to sleep with her?”

Nanaka heard a sad voice behind her; she turned around to see Shuka on top of the stairs, Rikako walked by her side and gave Nanaka a sad smile while walking thru the room, of course, Arisa had reserved a futon next to hers for Rikako.

Nanaka looked at Shuka, she tightened her lips.  
“I'm not going to sleep with her, I pretend to be alone in my futon” she grabbed her suitcase but she didn’t move

“Shuka-chan!” said Anchan on the other side of the room  
“I got you a futon!”

Shuka looked at Anchan and gave her a smile, then looked at Nanaka  
“You still owe me a talk,” said Shuka with some bitterness and moved to where Anchan was.

Nanaka blinked a few times, turned around and went to her reserved futon beside Aina.

 

“I’m sorry, is she mad? Are you mad?” asked Aina with a sweet tone

The room was really noisy so they could talk in a normal tone  
  
“Why I should be?” said Nanaka with her “Suwa tone”, she left her stuff near her futon and started opening her suitcase

“I believe she wanted to sleep with you...” said Aina a bit sad  
“She wants to be with me all the time”  
“Does that bothers you?”

Nanaka took out her training clothes, then she stopped to look at Aina; both shared some looks  
“No, I like her company... “

“So? I did well? If you prefer we can switch...”  
Nanaka returned to her suitcase and took out her snickers  
“You need to change,” said Nanaka dryly

Aina blinked, sighed and started opening her suitcase too  
“Suwawa, something happened with Shuka?” she asked in a concerned tone

“Ainya, the point in this training camp is to bond with everybody,” said Nanaka taking out her shoes  
“Shuka is always with me or Anchan, its good if she bonds with the rest too...”

“I see, so, are you ok with this?” asked Aina with a goofy smile

“Of course!” said Nanaka

 

She took a few seconds to look around; the futons were in the following order, next to the stairs was Aiai, followed by King and Aikyan (of course fFrst years were together), next was Shuka with Anchan, Aina, herself, Arisa and lastly Rikako.  
  
“Besides, its just a futon, it’s not like we are going to share it...I don’t get why the fuss...” said Nanaka with her monotone

Aina just hummed and kept changing her clothes, like everybody else.

 

_Seems that everyone chose their most comfortably partner anyways..._

 

Her sight stopped on Shuka, it seems that Shuka did the same thing; both shared some sights and a shy smile.  
Shuka was changing her shirt, Nanaka blinked furiously, and then returned to her duty to change. She wasn’t used to seeing so much skin exposed, and that weird feeling in her belly kicked once again.

A few minutes later the lead teacher was shouting from the first floor that they needed to get going to the practice room, so everybody hurried up.

 

 

Studio A/B was located on the other side of the Village, of course, it made total sense because of the loud sounds could disturb all the accommodation area. For everyone surprise, the studio was arranged like a dance studio and it had a big wall mirror.  
The walls were grey with a wooden floor; the place wasn’t that big though but that wasn’t an issue, the girls with the mirror were more than happy. The dance teachers settled everything in the room for the dance practice, from the speakers to some bottled water.

 

They began the dance practice on schedule.  
First was a warmed up routine that they actually were kind of used to it by now.  
The good thing about having started practicing a few months ago was that they could concentrate more on the choreography, now they know what they are dealing with, and with more stamina and energy. If they had started practicing on this training camp it would have been a waste of time, there’s no way they could have the stamina and energy to resist the choreography and actually learn it in just 3 days.

 

After the warmed up routine, began the real practice; for everyone surprises the mirror did help a lot, this was the first time they could use one of those, and it increases the sense of space between the members, but, they kept stomping into each other.

  
“Ok” clapped the Lead teacher, everybody stopped on their spot.  
“Let’s practice the instrumental part”

Everybody took their positions; Nanaka stood on the back, she was sweating like crazy, breathing heavily, but looking at her fellow members she didn’t look that bad anymore.  
King was a mess; Aina was still with a bit of difficulty catching her breath. Arisa stood on her right side  
  
“You are looking good,” she said with a sweet tone, Nanaka looked at her in awe and rose her eyebrows  
“Thank you”

At Arisa’s right stood Shuka, she was drying her sweat on her neck, then looked at Nanaka, she smiled wide, Nanaka nodded.  
  
“’Mari-san’, ‘Kanan-san’, are you ready?” said the Lead teacher, it seems everybody was in position.

Nanaka and Aina nodded, Nanaka with more confident than Aina.  
  
“Ok!” the teacher clapped once again “ ‘You-san’ I’m assuming you can do this, can you?”

Shuka nodded with even more confidence than Nanaka and Aina.

 

They had never done the main leapfrog before, they had to be really coordinate; Nanaka had to do a leapfrog over Rikako at the same time Aina had to do it over Anchan, quickly enough they have to gather at the center for Shuka to jump over the two of them.  
  
At this point, Nanaka just couldn’t jump over Rikako, and Aina felt over Anchan almost every time because she starts laughing, or she can’t lift her legs properly.  
Shuka in other hand has never tried to jump over Nanaka and Aina before.

 

“Ok, let’s see how they do it”  
Said the Lead teacher to the other teacher for her to press play to the music.

The music started, the instrumental part began, the normal steps were now easy for them; then it came the moment for Aina and Nanaka to jump, Aina felt over Anchan while Nanaka successfully jumped over Rikako, she hurried up to get to the center, but Aina never came, she stopped.

Shuka stopped.

Everybody stopped.

The teacher stopped the music.

The Lead teacher started to clap.  
Nanaka was breathing heavily, astonish looking at Aina on the floor with Anchan giggling, then she looked at Shuka, she was close behind her in position to do the main leapfrog, she smiled wide full teeth at her, then she heard the claps from the Lead teacher, she turned to face her

“I can’t believe this, ‘Kanan-san’ did it before ‘Mari-san’”  
She stopped the clapping  
“I must admit, I was almost sure that you will be the last one to successfully do the leapfrog”

Nanaka blinked, then completely ignored the Lead teacher turning around and kneel down close to Aina  
“Ainya are you ok?”  
“How?! You made it!” said Aina with her high tone, Nanaka smiled  
“Anchan your ankle,” said Nanaka quickly  
“I’m ok...its nothing,” said Anchan seating on the floor  
“Osuwa!!!!” shouted Shuka and hugged Nanaka from behind  
“You made it!!! You did it!!!”

“Indeed she did,” said Arisa with awe

Everybody made a real fuss about it; Nanaka just smiled sweetly at them. Of course, she did, this wasn’t the first time, she had been practicing with Shuka all these months and even yesterday and now she succeeded. It seems that she grew more strength in her legs and now and she could jump higher.

 

She looked at Aina again; she was sitting on the floor next to Anchan.

“Are both of you ok?” She repeated

Both nodded

“My bangs are getting in the way,” said Anchan doing something weird with her hair

“I’m just too short...” said Aina, it was a little sad but she was with her goofy smile

“Suwawa is like their mother’s, “ said King from behind

“Well, ‘Kanan-chan’ can be a very caring person, she is offering hugs to people,” said Aiai taking some sips of her water

Shuka left Nanaka’s back for her to stand up; she turned to see Shuka, she was really excited, it seems that Shuka could see all these months of secret training have paid off.

 

“Ok enough with this,” said the Lead teacher, everybody looked at her

“While I can congratulate ‘Kanan-san’ for her achievement, ‘Mari-san’ you need to made that jump, if you don’t jump ‘You-chan’ can’t jump over the two of you, and everything is ruined”

“I know, I’m sorry, I’ll do my best!” said Aina standing up

“Excuse me,” said Arisa raising her hand “ is not going to be difficult for Saito-san to jump over the two of them?”

Everybody turned to look at her

“What do you mean Komiya-san? Of course, I can!” said Shuka with her happy tone

“I mean, Suwa-san is tall while Suzuki-san is so short, how are their backs going to make a good easel for you to jump? ‘Kanan-san’ and ‘Mari-san’ are like the same height, so it’s not that difficult for ‘You-chan’ to jump”

Everybody looked concerned, even the Lead teacher

“How tall are you Suwa-san?” asked the lead teacher

“1,57 cm”

Everybody looked at Aina

“Me? 1,47 cm...”

 

_Cute._

 

“10 cm of difference, Yes, well let’s see, you two, made the easel”  
Ordered the Lead teacher

Nanaka and Aina looked at each other, blinked and then they took their place in the center of the room, both of them bent down making the easel.

Shuka looked at them, her eyes widen.

Actually, everybody looked concerned

“Well it’s not leveled at all,” said the Lead teacher “ and it doesn’t look safe either...”

“I can do it,” said Shuka and made some steps to the back

“Do it if you feel like you can” said the Lead teacher

“ I can... here I go~,” Shuka said taking velocity to make the jump

“Actually they look sexy like that,” said Aiai at the moment Shuka made the last step and jumped.

She didn’t jump properly, her backs weren’t leveled at all, so Shuka couldn’t touch Aina’s back and impulse herself properly, while the impulse of Shuka’s hand in Nanaka’s back made her unstable, so Nanaka moved unsettling Aina, making her move too.

Shuka did lift her legs, but not enough.

She failed the jump.

The three of them fell to the floor like in slow motion, it was awful.

The Lead teacher facepalmed, while their fellow members were in awe.

Arisa was right.

The height difference was an issue.

 

“Are you ok?” asked the Lead teacher seeing the three of them on the floor

“You know how to kick!” said Aina

“Osuwa, I’m sorry are you alright?” asked Shuka with concern

“I’m ok...” said Nanaka in her singsong voice

“You kicked me! Not her!” said annoyed Aina

“Ok we have a problem here,…” said the Lead teacher

“Sensei! I can do it! I did it on the first day!” said Shuka freaking out

“You jumped over ‘Chika-chan’ and ‘Yoshiko-chan’, its different”

Shuka stood up fast

“I got distracted, I can do it again”

“The hell you can Shukashuu,” said Aina sobbing herself  
“I’m done with being on the floor!”  
Said Aina standing up, Nanaka raised her eyebrows, this was the first time she sees Aina mad or annoyed.

“Then do the jump properly,” said the Lead teacher

“And no, ‘You-chan’, no more leapfrog for today”

“But Sensei gave her the chance to do it again,” said Anchan, suddenly the tension intensified

 

The teacher looked at her, and it was clear that she was annoyed by Anchan’s interruption

Nanaka blinked and stood up

“I have an Idea, Sensei,” She said in her slow “Suwa tone”

All gazes were on her, Nanaka looked at Anchan and lifted one finger to her lips, telling Anchan to shut up; Anchan tightened her lips.

“Suwa-San?” said the Lead teacher

“Shuka can do it,” Nanaka said slowly, then looked at Aina “ the problem is us”

Aina raised an eyebrow

“We know that, we have been always the problem,” said Aina annoyed

“Then we are the solution”  
Nanaka said walking and grabbing Aina’s hand and entwined her fingers with her, everybody said a loud “Oh!”

“Suwa-san?” called the Lead teacher

“Osuwa….?” whispered Shuka in awe with a clear sad face

Nanaka looked down at Aina; Aina looked up straight into her eyes

“This feels like a romantic movie….” said Aiai

“Shut up you,” said Rikako in a low and creepy tone

 

Nanaka smiled at Aina, and then turned around, still with Aina’s handheld into hers, then she bent again, Aina understood and bent too.

The Lead teacher looked at them, and then looked at Shuka, she was like in shock looking at them

“Saito-San, do it again”

“Eh?” Shuka said snapping out of her daydream

“Jump” repeated the Lead teacher

Shuka swallowed hard, looked at them bent down, then looked at Nanaka, she was with her head toward her, she smiled and nodded.

Shuka took a deep breath and jogged towards them to do the jump, Nanaka grabbed Aina’s hand tight and bent a little more, their backs somehow leveled for Shuka to take that impulse.  
Shuka jumped; the impulse she made towards their backs was somehow contrasted by the force they were making with their hands entwined, Shuka opened her legs wide and with that, she made it to the other side.

Leapfrog succeeds.

 

“ _Oh yes! Doki-Doki sunshine!_ ” sang Aikyan and King seeing Shuka standing in awe looking at herself in the mirror

Nanaka stood up with a smile on her face

“She could always do it”

“Osuwa!” said Shuka turning around; Nanaka left Aina’s hand, Aina looked at her in awe too

“Good job Suwa-san, that was a great idea,” said the Lead teacher

“Now you need to do that in the actual song with the actual speed….”

“One step at the time; Ainya needs to complete her leapfrog,” said Nanaka with her “Suwa-tone”

“ I will I will!! I will make my best!” said Aina with now a better mood.  
  
“ _Gambare!”_ said King!  
  
_“Gambare!”_ repeated Aykyan

“ _Gambaruby!”_  said Aiai with a funny tone,

Everybody felt in silence looking at her

“What?” said Aiai in a mock tone  
  
“Brilliant!” said Shuka, everybody giggled

“Ok, then don’t waste more time,” said the Lead teacher.

The Lead teacher clapped once again and in no time the practice continued.

 

.

 

.

 

.

 

The dance practice was until late at night.

To be their first day was pretty strenuous, somehow the staff understood that, and soon after the dance practice ended the Lead teacher send them to have dinner, take a bath, and later sleep. She was really strict to tell them that resting was important and they needed to sleep early because tomorrow it will be worse.

Dinner time was with all the staff as well, the Chief of staff gave them the name and lyrics for the new song, it was called “Step! ZERO to ONE”.

The recording will start tomorrow morning with Anchan.

 

Of course, using the bath was controversial, being just one in the room for not only the 9 girls but for the teachers and the assistants. So they took turns to use it and the ones that didn’t want to wait could go to the Spa.

 

Nanaka was patience enough to wait for her turn in the bathroom of the cottage, not the same patience as “First years”, Anchan and Shuka.

After her, Aina entered the bathroom, but Nananka didn’t go upstairs, instead, she went out of the cottage and sat down on the porch stairs.

 

She was wearing some comfy clothes, she didn't want to bring her cute pinkie pajamas; the level of teasing in this group it's just too high to give them more material to mock her.  
She had her hand towel around her neck, her hair down and with her glasses on once again. She had her bathing stuff and training clothes in a basket on her lap while she was looking at her phone.

The night was warm; you could hear soft sounds of nature and some murmurs of people around. The place was so quiet and nice; she could even see the stars. She was checking her messages, her Twitter, and her emails. 

 

_All day is gone, and not a single message from my parents..._

 

“Osuwa!” she heard clearly, Nanaka looked up, of course, Shuka was walking towards her with Anchan at a normal pace.

Both with their baskets in hand, it seems that Shuka and Anchan brought their cute PJs with them.

Anchan was wearing glasses.

“Shukashuu~, Anchan” Nanaka greeted them, they stopped in front of her

“Did you enjoyed your bath?” asked Shuka in her sweet tone

“I did! I didn’t know you wear glasses too Anchan”

Anchan giggled

“Why you didn’t come with us? The Spa is good” asked Shuka

“And fun” added Anchan

“I’m not fun,” said Nanaka in her “Suwa tone”, both of them giggled

“I don’t like bathing with other people... called it like an “only child syndrome” Added Nanaka

Anchan rose her eyebrows in surprise; Shuka didn’t move an inch, she already knew that.

“I’m an only child too...” said Anchan

“But you are not demure like Osuwa is,” said Shuka in a funny tone

“Yes, that can be,” said Anchan

Nanaka hummed.

“Suwawa...” called Anchan, Nanaka blinked an looked up at her

“I, ... I wanna thank you, this afternoon, in the dance practice, I could be scolded by the teacher once again...”

“You keep doing that, why Anchan?” added Shuka

“It's not just today since the first day of practice she keeps scolding you,” said Nanaka

“I know! Why is she doing that?!” Anchan said outraged

“Maybe she feels you are not a good ‘leader material’...” said Shuka

“What?!” squealed Anchan

“Maybe you are trying too hard....” said Nanaka, both girls looked at her in silence

“What do you mean?” asked Anchan

“No one asked you to be our leader Anchan,” said Nanaka in her normal tone  
“You just assumed that role because you play ‘Chika’, but that doesn’t mean you have to be the members leader, if you asked me, I can’t care less who is the leader of who; we need just a person to push ourselves harder and further, can you be that person Anchan?”

Anchan felt in silence, Shuka looked at Nanaka with a worried expression.

Nanaka wasn’t fooling around; she always had been straightforward to tell her stuff.

Nanaka looked at the two young girls in front of her; the youngest members of the cast.

“A leader should know when to shut up too,” she added

“Maybe you should be the leader Suwa-san,” said Anchan more serious

Nanaka snorted  
  
  
_I have been taken away my role as leader of  ‘Third years’ and I will be the leader of all Aqours.... yeah right!_

 

“Don’t say nonsenses Anchan,” said Nanaka leaving her basket at her side  
“I don’t have the personality, the leader should have that too, and of course I lack energy, but gladly I can support and cheer for you”

Anchan bit her lips and tightens her grip on her basket

“Anchan, sweetie, you are just thinking too much on it, use these days to think about it, you are one of the youngest members of the group, are you sure you want to have that pressure on your shoulders? I think everybody has a role to fulfill in this group, is it yours to be the leader?”

Anchan lowered her sight  
  
“Aiai’s role is to be the meme/mascot of the group,” said Shuka with a giggle

Nanaka and Anchan snorted  
  
“Yeah, that can be,” said Nanaka, then gave a smile to both of them

 “Anchan I don’t know what it's your role or mine, you need to figure it out, if you want to keep trying to be the leader, then good luck, I’ll support you, if you decided that its something else, I’ll cheer for you anyways. But right now you are trying so hard that it bothers the Lead teacher.”  
Anchan sighed and looked to Shuka  
“Now I know why you like her that much”

Nanaka rose her eyebrows in surprise; Shuka’s cheek became wild red, Anchan laughed cutely

 

“Why were you here outside? Are you not coming in?” asked Anchan to Nanaka  
  
“I wanted fresh air, besides, Aida-san and Komiya-san are upstairs...”  
  
Anchan hummed and started walking to the entrance of the cottage  
  
“Suwawa, remember what we talked at dinner; let's drop the honorifics, we are friends”  
Anchan opened the door and looked back at both girls  
  
“Shuka-chan, are you not coming?”  
  
Shuka smiled at her and shook her head  
  
“I’ll make some company for Osuwa”  
  
“Okay!” said in a cute tone and went inside.

 

Both remained silent looking at each other; a sweet breeze evolved the moment.

Shuka broke the silence.

“You smell nice...” said shyly  
  
“Thank you... you look cute, love your PJs”  
  
Shuka smiled cutely at her.  
Then silence again.

Nanaka blinked a few times.  
“You wanna talk about yesterday?” said Nanaka in her “Suwa tone”  
  
Shuka swallowed, her cheeks becoming red  
  
“Yes... I want, it seems that now is a good time”  
“Ok.”

Silence.  
Both shared some looks, Nanaka was with her “Suwa face”, and Shuka was really nervous.

“So...?” said Nanaka.  
  
Shuka bit her lips, she walked a few steps to leave her basket beside Nanaka’s, and then she stood in front of her.  
  
“I... I liked it...” said Shuka shyly  
  
“I liked too...” Nanaka gave her a coy smile

“Really?” said Shuka with a cute tone  
  
“Really... but it's forbidden,” said Nanaka with a more serious tone  
  
“ I... I know...”  
  
“We signed a contract, Shuka...”  
  
“I...know that too...”  
  
“Then...?” asked Nanaka dryly  
  
Shuka looked at her uneasy, Nanaka could see that she wanted something more of her, some explanations or whatever.  
  
“That’s it?” asked Shuka “ You are not going to say anything else? It’s just that and that’s it?”  
Nanaka raised her eyebrows in surprise, what else could she say?  
  
“Do you regret it?” asked Nanaka

Shuka remained silent a few seconds, blinked a few times and then took a deep breath.  
“Yes.” She said firmly.

Nanaka felt another thing in her belly; clearly it wasn’t like the ones she had been feeling these past few months, also a tight pressure on her chest. She opened her eyes wide.

“I...see...” Nanaka said in a small voice and lowering her head

“I regret not going further...” said Shuka searching Nanaka’s eyes  
“The truth is, that I want more...”

Nanaka looked up at her in awe, her lips slightly open

“... I feel addicted, I need to do it again, I need more...” Shuka said shyly but clearly

“Shuka...” said softly Nanaka standing up, her towel falling from her shoulders.

 

“...I like you...”  
Said Shuka looking straight into Nanaka’s eyes and soul.

 

A soft and warm breeze evolved both girls. The silent night was filled with the sounds of nature, the calm of the forest around them, murmurs of people in the distant, pure and loving feelings blooming in their hearts and a loud sound of something falling that came from a near bathroom.

 

\--0oo0--

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What the hell happened yesterday?!
> 
> Let's wait for the next pack of Inserts to figure it out!  
> Stay tuned for "Lies Under a Mask"  
> And Training Camp part 2 in the next chapter ;)!  
> We hoped you had enjoyed this chapter!  
> Thanks so much for the comments & Kudos! ;)!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's time to "talk".  
> The second day of Training camp.  
> Suwa Nanaka will have to face the new challenge of training, practice and record the new song while she had to resolve her position within the members in the middle of her professional v/s sentimental state of mind.  
> Can she do it?  
> let's talk about it...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We are happy to deliver a new chapter this soon!  
> This time both authors are working together to write these chapters, we hope it's not "boring long"  
> We tried to focus more on character development and the relationships -professionally- between the girls.  
> Please enjoy~

Masquerade.

Chapter 04.

 

 

The sound of soft breathing filled the room with a gentle warm light coming from the windows. 

From time to time she could hear a few birds singing outside in the distance; their songs remind them that they weren’t in the noisy city anymore, instead, they were in the quiet countryside, but most importantly that remind them that they were out, in the training camp. 

 

Nanaka slowly started to open her eyes; the warm room becoming a bit hot and bright. 

With a soft grunt, she frowned; she wasn’t used to waking up with such a bright light in her bedroom. 

She blinked a few times to focus her sight; her blurry vision trying to focus on what was in front of her. 

At first, she saw Aina’s futon but for her surprise, nobody was there; she looked a bit further, she was surprised to see another messed futon with no one there, Anchan was missing too. 

 

Nanaka’s heart skipped a bit, so she opened her eyes wider with a furious blink, finally waking up.

 

_What? What’s this? Where is everybody?..._

 

With her eyes now fully open and fully awake, she lifted her torso a bit and using her right elbow as support she looked beyond Anchan’s futon, for her surprise, she was greeted by a beautiful smile and two kind eyes; Shuka was staring at her. 

 

Nanaka raised her eyebrows, her cheeks becoming red; she gave her a kind smile back, and somehow she returned to her initial position without taking her eyes away from Shuka. 

So how long had been Shuka staring at her while sleeping? That thought made her heart race at the same time feeling butterflies in her belly. 

If everybody left, she didn’t care anymore; she was now busy staring at Shuka. 

They shared sweet smiles and glances thru the messy futons of the missing members but they didn’t care, they were lost in each other’s eyes. 

Maybe they were remembering the events of last night. 

 

 

 

 

 

After Shuka’s confession, Nanaka removed her glasses, threw them into her basket without taking her eyes away from Shuka; she moved towards her with determination, with both hands grabbed Shuka’s puffed cheeks and throwing all her senses to the back of her mind, she kissed her again. 

Shuka’s reaction was almost instantly in the very moment she felt Nanaka’s hands grabbing her cheeks; she closed her eyes and received the kiss, in no time she was answering Nanaka’s lips with her owns with equal passion, hugging Nanaka by her waist making their bodies stick to each other. 

 

The mixed smell of sweet peaches with Sakura and citrus made their heads become dizzy and intoxicated them with each other scents; Nanaka wanted more, and soon she was making the kiss deeper, wetter, and hotter.

This was what Shuka wanted, isn’t it? She wanted to go further, she wanted more of her, and Nanaka was happy and gladly willing to do so. 

 

Nanaka was devouring Shuka’s mouth while Shuka was grabbing Nanaka’s clothes firmly; wet sounds started to come out with soft and cute grunts of pleasure out of their mouths when they heard some noisy voices coming towards them. 

Both recognized them in an instant; “First years”. 

 

Like if they had electricity they split out and separate from each other a few steps; Nanaka bought her left arm crossing her chest while her right hand went to her mouth, her cheeks were slightly red. 

Shuka in other hand hid her arms behind her back and looked down in embarrassment, her cheeks were furious red and she had her lips really swollen, she was with an elaborate breathing trying to catch her breath. 

 

_Did she just com-?_

 

 

“Hey~!” said “First years” approaching them 

 

“What are you guys doing here?” asked Aiai with concern

 

“Where is Anchan?” asked Aikyan 

 

“Inside,” answered Nanaka fast and coldly 

 

“Did we just interrupted something...?” said King with a concerned tone

 

Shuka looked up with her wide smile and looked at them

 

“No, no, we were just talking; dance stuff and such”

 

“She helped me with the leapfrog,” said in a hurry Nanaka. 

 

“Ok, we should go and have a pillow fight!” 

Said Aikyan moving along to the cottage, but stopping in the porch to pick up Nanaka’s towel.

Nanaka gave her a sign that the towel was hers, so Aikyan had to turn her steps back to return it to Nanaka.

 

“Just get some rest of this!” followed Aiai with a tired tone, “you will have plenty of time tomorrow to keep practicing the leapfrog”  

 

“You should teach Suzuki-san to do it,” said King with an amused tone, following her teammates 

 

Both girls looked at “First years” entering the cottage, Aikyan who was the last stopped in the doorframe and looked back at them.

 

“I’m gonna steal your pillow Shukashuu~!!” and then she rushed inside the cottage

 

Shuka opened her eyes wide and gasped.

 

“Hey! That’s not fair!” she quickly ran towards the cottage, grabbed her basket and rushed to the entrance, without a care that she just stomped with someone.

Nanaka walked slowly to grab her basket, she stood straight in front of the entrance when she heard Shuka apologizing with the one she just stomped on the door.

 

“I’m sorry Suzuki-san!” she said loud and then she disappeared inside. 

 

_Suzuki...san?_

 

Nanaka looked up at the door, she could see Aina looking back at her with a clear sad face. 

Nobody moved or said anything, they just heard how “First years” plus Shuka were running upstairs making a lot of fuss.

They heard Arisa scolding them, and later the Lead teacher. 

At the end was silence once again. 

 

“So I believe there’s no pillow fight after all...”  
Said Aina, her tone was dry and serious. Too weird for Aina. 

 

_Did she see us...?_

 

Nanaka swallowed hard but conserving her “Suwa face”. She blinked a few times and started walking towards the entrance. 

 

“Yeah, it seems like that”   
She said stopping in front of Aina; Aina lowered her head, somehow avoiding Nanaka’s gaze, and she moves outside

 

“Where are you going?” asked Nanaka with concern looking back at Aina.

 

“Out,” said Aina dryly and moved out with a strong foot. 

 

Nanaka looked at her with a frown on her face.

 

_Oh, my God, she saw us..._

 

Nanaka turned her head to the entrance of the cottage with a panic look, her heart started to race like crazy; she tightened her grip on her basket while listening Aina’s footsteps getting away. 

 

She swallowed hard. 

 

 _Fuck._  

 

Nanaka entered the cottage with a quick pace; she saw the assistants and the teachers getting ready in their respective futons, so she said a soft “goodnight” and went upstairs were she clearly could hear her fellow members still awake. 

Everybody was in their respective futons still talking at the same time, it was clearly noisy. 

 

_And they expect us to sleep?_

 

 

Nanaka walked towards her futon while giving Shuka a few glances; Shuka gave her back some too and a coy smile, her lips still swollen. There was some complicity between them that only they knew, that made Nanaka feel butterflies in her belly. 

She left her basket on the floor and started arranging her stuff.

Then she stopped. 

 

Not only the two of them know. 

Aina knows too. 

 

Nanaka looked at Aina’s futon, it was intact of course. 

She couldn’t help to tighten her lips. 

 

Why did Aina behave that way? Was she mad? Hurt? Disappointed? 

It made her sense that she could see them; the bathroom was right there next to the cottage entrance, maybe she heard the confession, went out to see them because Aina is a curious person, and saw them kissing. 

 

Nanaka blinked a few times. 

 

_That’s a maybe._

 

Or maybe she was just serious about something else, or she heard Takatsuki-san saying that she needed Shuka to teach her the leapfrog and she got upset. 

 

Nanaka sighed softly. 

The best way was asking her.

 

“Where’s Suzuki-san?” Nanaka heard clearly on her back; Komiya-san’s voice. 

She turned around with her “Suwa face” and shrugged.

 

“Oh, I thought she was with you Suwa-san” 

 

“Why ‘Third years’ are still so polite?” asked Anchan with an amused tone, everybody somehow stopped their respective topics and turned her sights to Arisa and Nanaka. 

“Drop the honorific already you two!” 

 

_I hate this kind of attention..._

 

Nanaka stood up with determination and moved to the stairs once again.

“Hey where are you going?” asked Anchan with a bit of nervousness in her voice

 

“I can go and look for Ainya” she heard softly while an arm firmly but kindly grabbed Nanaka’s arms; she stopped her footsteps. 

 

Shuka smiled kindly and moved to the stairs.

“Why?” asked Nanaka with a clearly surprise look. 

“I need my warm milk before to sleep anyways, so I’ll go to the reception to buy one, I’m sure I’ll find Ainya on my way” 

Both share a smile, and before Nanaka could say anything else, Shuka rushed downstairs. 

She blinked a few times and sighed. She could hear clearly how everybody started talking or maybe teasing them again, she didn’t pay any attention; she was immersed in her mind that there it goes her opportunity to talk with Aina about whatever happened to her. 

She turned around to her futon ignoring all the noise and fixing her stuff. 

She got inside of it and sat still for about a few seconds. 

In less than 5 minutes she lived a rollercoaster of feelings. A love confession, a lovely and hot kiss, confusion and now concern. 

 

“I hope we will get used to this...” said softly Arisa; Nanaka turned her head to her left to see her. 

 

Arisa was sat the same way she was in her futon, and Rikako too, both looking to their front. 

“This is really something isn’t it?” said Rikako with a soft tone. 

Nanaka looked at her front too realizing why were this two so worried. 

She opened her eyes wide. 

 

“First years” were doing some weird dances, while laughing and somehow “bullying” Anchan on the way. 

Of course, they were too noisy and loud for the three of them to sleep. So they were in their corner, quiet and amazed looking how those four were so loud. 

 

“And Suzuki-san isn’t even here...” said Rikako

“Just wait for her to come...” said Arisa

“And Shuka will come with her...” said softly Nanaka.

 

The three of them just made a painful sigh and then shared some looks with each other. 

They giggled and shared some smiles. 

Yes, they were the normal ones within the group.

 

After a quiet and calm chitchat between the three of them ignoring the noisy of their fellow members, Nanaka felt a bit relieved that at least she had something in common with Arisa Komiya, and now she understood why Rikako was always with her; she was normal and calm, just like her. 

 

A few minutes later Shuka came back with Aina; Shuka came smiling with a bottle of milk in her hands, making a lot of fuss with “First years” until she reached her futon, in other hand Aina came more quietly, made a few jokes and then got inside her futon, she didn’t even bother to give Nanaka a second glance, and that was weird. 

 

_She wanted to sleep by my side and now she is just ignoring me? What’s wrong with her?_

 

Nanaka frowned and bit her lips. 

 

“Is she ok?” 

She heard Arisa whispering at her left, of course, this behavior was weird coming from Aina. 

Nanaka looked at Arisa with her “Suwa face” and shrugged, not trying to offend Arisa or anything, she just didn’t know. 

 

They heard the last scold from the Lead teacher downstairs; she threatened them that if they didn’t shut up for good, tomorrow she will make the session even harder and painful. Even if everybody giggled at that, they knew that the Lead teacher was serious and more than capable to punish them like that, so soon everybody got into their futons and got ready to sleep. 

 

“It’s everybody ready? I’m gonna turn off the light...”

Said Aiai from her futon, since she was the closest to the switch; Nanaka gave a last look to Shuka and it seems she did the same, both shared a sweet smile and a nostalgic gaze, like if they didn’t want to turn off the light to keep looking at each other, to keep admiring each other. Nanaka felt she needed to say something, but of course, she couldn’t. 

Somehow Shuka understood that or maybe she wanted to do the same, so in a matter of seconds she lifted her hand showing Nanaka her phone; Nanaka blinked.

Everybody said a tiring “yes” answering Aiai’s question, so she said a loud “goodnight everybody” and turned off the lights.

 

Nanaka took her phone and covered herself to the top of her head with the futon; she turned on her phone, opened the Line app, and searched for Shuka’s conversation. 

She started typing but Shuka’s message came first. 

 

 **Osuwa! We did it again and we couldn’t talk at all!! (** **〃艸〃** **)**

 

Nanaka frowned, she was right, she didn’t say anything, she just kissed her. 

Should this be an “actions speak more than words” case? Then again, what the hell she means kissing her? What now? 

Nanaka’s fingers typed quickly. 

 

 **Yeah, I know, my bad...** (●´艸｀)ヾ

 **I’m sorry Shukashuu, I’m not going to do it again if you don’t want to.** (つ﹏<。)

 

She bit her lips. The truth is that she was dying to do it again. 

She got her answer faster than she expected, her heart was racing like crazy. 

 

**Are you kidding me?! Osuwa, I want to do it again...**

**I told you I feel addicted...**

**I like you. (** **♡** **´** **艸** **`)**

 

Nanaka felt the imperious desire to throw everything to hell; to get up, walk over Aina and Anchan and lay flat over Shuka in her futon and make out with her there, raw and hot, not even caring if that passion grew to something more and with everybody there. 

She wanted her. 

 

She sighed and blinked a few times. 

She couldn’t do that. 

 

**We need to talk about it.**

**No kisses until we figure out what to do.**

**Okay? (** **๑** **•́** **ω** **•̀)**

 

She typed with her heart shrugged; God knows when that talk will be, until then she had to focus on practice and the camp and not in Shuka’s plump lips, or Shuka’s playful tongue, or how nice Shuka smelled like sweet peaches...

 

_Dammit! I can’t concentrate at all..._

 

 **Fair enough Suwa-san!** (≧∀≦ゞ

**Have a good night!**

**ヾ** **(** **＾** **-** **＾** **)** **ノ**

Nanaka made a sad smile, she wanted to keep talking with her, or to be filled with her presence, but no. 

She needed to rest for tomorrow practice.

 

**Have a good night sweetie~**

**(** **｡** **´** **∀** **｀** **)** **ﾉ**

 

She turned off her phone, moved the futon down of her head; she was greeted by a cold and fresh air, then she left the phone beside her at her right. 

She couldn’t help but see a black shape in that direction, she recognized it as Aina. 

She frowned again. 

 

_God, how many “talks” I’m gonna need to do in this camp?!_

 

She turned around in Arisa’s direction and closed her eyes. 

The truth was that she needed to focus on the camp. 

In singing the new song, training, in the choreography, in her career, not in her situation with Shuka, or why was Aina mad at her, why would she anyway? 

With a soft snort, she tried to get some sleep. 

But the truth was that she was lying to herself under her mask.

 

She wanted Shuka so bad. 

 

 

 

 

The loud voices and laughing of “First years” snapped Nanaka out of her memory and daydreaming. 

Shuka shared the same sad smile with her, and both agreed that it was time to come back to reality. 

Nanaka blinked furiously while turning her back and gluing her gaze to the ceiling, she didn’t feel ready yet. 

She heard how the Lead teacher was shouting from downstairs that they needed to be ready in 20 minutes for breakfast and then to start the training. 

Soon the room become noisy once again, so she didn’t have any choice to move too. 

 

She sat on her futon, her eyes slightly opened, she could see how everybody started to stand up and move around.

“Where is Anchan?” asked Shuka with concern

“I think her day started early than ours,” said Arisa removing her shirt 

Nanaka opened her eyes wide.

 

_Oh, my God._

 

She faster turned her head to the other side but caught Shuka doing the same.

She closed her eyes tight

 

_I’m not ready for this yet!_

 

“Suwa-san?” Nanaka heard Arisa’s voice behind her “you need to get ready” 

 

_I need to get out of here!_

 

She got up quickly trying to avoid everybody, took her training clothes from her bag as fast as she could, and moved faster to reach the stairs. 

On her way, she heard that Anchan was already recording and that Aina was already having breakfast. 

It took Nanaka’s attention, she didn’t recall Aina being an early person. 

She went straight to the bathroom downstairs and locked the door.

She wasn’t ready to start changing her clothes there with everybody; ok, they need to bond with each other, but one step at the time. Maybe Arisa Komiya didn’t have any issues or complex with her body, because God, she has such a great body, but her? 

And of course, she wasn’t ready to see that much skin from Shuka. 

 

_Good Lord, I’m a demure person I can’t do that...at least not yet..._

 

So after splashing water on her face, and changing into her training clothes calmly, she went out of the bathroom, went upstairs to leave her sleeping clothes and grab her contacts. 

At the end it seems that no one noticed her escape to the bathroom; she did a mental note to do that from now on. 

 

 

 

Breakfast was nice. 

Everybody was in high spirits and excited to start the training. 

As for Aina; she looked fine and like herself. She started fooling around and being noisy as always, but she sat at the opposite side of the table and she didn’t give Nanaka a second glance once again. 

Shuka in other hand stuck herself to Nanaka, making her impossible to concentrate on what everybody was talking. 

 

While everybody was having breakfast, they received the information for today activities; right now Anchan was recording the new song, “Step! ZERO to ONE”, and it will be recorded the same way their first song was recorded, one by one. 

And this time they were receiving some personal vocal training, so the recording session would take more time than the first time. 

Nanaka felt really uneasy with that; her experience recording “ _Kimi no Kokoro wa Kagayaiteru kai?_ ” Wasn’t that good, of course, it took her a long time to get into character and sing like Kanan should sing. 

Following the schedule she was next after lunch, Arisa on the afternoon and Rikako right after dinner.

 

 

After breakfast, they have a P.E session scheduled.

Of course, that session was in charge of the Lead teacher, and she wasn’t kidding when she threatened them about making the session hard and painful; Nanaka felt her breakfast could escape from her mouth in any second. 

At least she wasn’t the only one feeling that way, King sure was having some problems with Aina close behind; after all these months they still hadn’t gained enough stamina and endurance to keep up the training, and they haven’t even started the dance practice yet. 

 

“Okay! 5 minutes break!”   
Said the Lead teacher after an intensive session of cardio exercises, stretching and planks. 

Everybody did a loud sigh and a few complaining from “First years” 

“You guys wanted to fool around last night; think about that now, don’t complain,” said the Lead teacher

 

“First years” made another tired sound, while the rest sat down to take a break. 

Nanaka took water from her bottle; she could felt her soul returning to her body.

“Easy with that,” said Arisa sitting next to her, Nanaka gave her a look with her cheeks full of water.

“I’m ok,” she said faintly after swallowing.

“Are you nervous?” Arisa said taking her bottle and drinking

“About?” Nanaka said in her “Suwa tone” 

Arisa took long sips from the bottle and then left the bottle on the floor

“Everything? The project? dancing?...” 

Nanaka took her sight away from Arisa and glued it into the mirror, first she looked for Shuka; she was happily chitchatting with Aikyan, then looked for Aina, she was with King and Aiai recovering. Rikako was talking with the teachers. 

 

_This is easier with Shuka or Aina, not with her... why is she talking to me?_

 

“I’m ok.” she said with her “Suwa tone” again

“Okay... you are the next one to record...” 

“I know.” she answered still with her “Suwa tone”

Both remained in silence. 

 

This was useless. 

Arisa stood up with her bottle in hand. 

“Suwa-san,” she called,” I know you have a problem with me, I told you before, and I’m not going to leave this training camp until you and I have a talk.” 

Then she left to talk with Aiai and company. Nanaka was left there still with the sight lost somewhere between the floor and the mirror. 

 

_Terrific, another “talk”..._

 

Nanaka rolled her eyes. 

Now she will need to add more hours on her day to have “these talks”; she felt tired already, and she hasn’t done any of them yet. 

In order of priority, it should be Shuka first but she hasn’t even thought about this topic, what does she want from her? want to be with her? Date her? Fuck her? Take care of her? Be her girlfriend?...love her?

 

Nanaka blinked furiously and shook her head. 

 

_Hold on Suwa Nanaka, you are going too fast..._

 

 

Then she has to talk with Aina; it’s clear that something happened yesterday and she is considering that the “maybe” because she was mad It’s because she heard plus saw the confession and kissing with Shuka. Why this bothers her? Why would she care? Is she jealous?...

 

_Is she?..._

 

Nanaka’s heart started to rush. 

Now Arisa. 

 

_God, Arisa..._

 

Then again, it’s not Arisa’s fault for her behavior towards her. 

How can she explain to her that it’s her insecurities towards her that made her be so...unpleasant? 

That she is so damn perfect in everything and in every sense, that it’s messing with her career and her role as Kanan. 

That her duty as "Third year" leader will be removed and passed to her because she wasn’t up for the task. 

_My, I can’t be in the same subunit as her, that will mean that she will steal Kanan’s leadership in that too..._

 

She felt sick. 

 

_I’m so sorry Kanan, I’m going to ruin you..._

 

A loud noise snapped Nanaka out of her “Suwa world”, she blinked furiously and realized that the room was really loud. 

Everybody was talking at the same time and the noise that snapped her out was the sound of the door opening with Anchan, the Chief of staff and the sound director Nagasaki Yukio. 

Nobody noticed them except for Nanaka, but she didn’t say a thing, she just looked at them. 

Anchan was with an amazed look, already in training outfit ready to incorporate into the P.E session, the Chief of staff had a painful look but Nagasaki Yukio was amazed at the noise. 

He turned to Anchan.

 

“Are you regularly this noisy?” he asked

Anchan giggled with embarrassment 

“Eh...yeah...when the 9 of us are gathered, this is how it feels...”

 

_Loud, noisy and unbearable..._

Nanaka stood up, it seems that the 5 minutes break were gone. 

“Love it,” said Nagasaki Yukio. 

“What?” asked the Chief of staff

“I want ‘this’ into the song,” he said amazed

“What? Noise?” asked Anchan

“It’s not ‘noise’, it’s your essence... the 9 of you are like ‘this’” 

He said entering the room, somehow now everybody noticed them and stopped talking. 

 

_9 my ass, I’m not talking...well maybe that’s my ‘essence’ in this group.  
Silent Suwa. _

 

Nagasaki Yukio greeted everyone, and he introduced himself once again in case someone has forgotten him. 

Who can forget the sound director of the project and the one who was constantly grabbing his temples because your tone or your voice or yourself were never good for the song you were recording?

 

Anyways, he was in a good mood because he was starting to record the new song and the first mix was already done.

Everybody clapped, Anchan was drying in embarrassment. 

Then he cleared his throat. 

 

“Seen all of you here, and hearing you now, I had an incredible idea for the new song” 

Everybody looked puzzled

“I know you haven’t heard the song yet, but, trust me, this song it’s really important, I’m afraid to say that’s even more important than the song of your P.V” 

 

Everybody made an “oh~” sound. 

How can be more important than their debut song and single? 

 

“So I want to transmit the very essence of all of you into this song, that’s why we are recording it here... this training camp means to be important not only for the project but for ‘Aqours’; this song it’s the first step for all of you...and it should represent you, the bonds you should forge here, the feelings you convey with each other, all of that should be represented in this song”

 

_Man...it’s just a song..._

 

Deadpanned Nanaka, not for wanting to detract him from what he was saying, but because she thought he was giving it more importance than she really thought it should have. 

The first song should have this kind of energy and leave that kind of impression not the B-side song of the cd. 

Besides, Anchan already recorded her mix, with which feelings exactly? And she was next, with which feelings should she record the song based on the experience of not even a full day in the training camp. 

Should she sing with love? Confusion? Anger? 

Of course, she didn’t say a thing and she stood there with her “Suwa face”. 

 

But Nagasaki Yukio had another idea, and he was really excited about it. So he asked the Chief of staff to go to the recording room, bring the recording staff with a few microphones for a group recording session. 

Basically, because the 9 of them didn’t fit into the recording booth. Of course, the Lead teacher wasn’t happy about him disturbing and interrupting her P.E session, but the songs are the priority in this franchise. 

 

While everybody was waiting for the Chief of staff and his recording staff to come and settle the equipment, of course, everybody rushed over Anchan. 

 

“So, how is it?” asked Aiai with full excitement 

“Is it difficult?” asked Aikyan 

“Is it a fast song?” asked King

“Who’s the center?” said Arisa

“Yo, let her breath!” said Shuka

 

Nanaka blinked a few times, and took her attention out of the group to watch the clock on the wall. 

Anchan started recording before breakfast and she finished a few minutes ago, that meant that every recording session was lasting about 3 hours more or less. 

She blinked again. 

 

_That’s long._

 

“Anchan did you have anything to eat?” 

Asked Nanaka the loudest she could, of course, that kind of questions was out the questions the girls were asking, almost if it was out of the blue, so everybody stood quiet and looked at Nanaka with a weird face. 

Anchan instead smiled back

“Yes I did, and I had coffee too, don’t worry about that Suwawa” 

Nanaka smiled back, then looked at everybody

“She started before breakfast, I needed to ask” 

 

Everybody did an “Oh~” sound again. 

“As expected from ‘Kanan-san’” said Aiai

“So, how's the song?” Insisted Rikako

Anchan bit her lips.

 

“Well, it’s a happy song?... I guess... it’s fast” said Anchan with doubt

“Damn!” said King

“Faster than “ _Kimi no Kokoro wa Kagayaiteru kai?_ ” asked Aikyan 

“Yes, definitely,” said Anchan 

“Man!” said King again 

“Don’t complain” said Aiai

“I complain,” said King looking at Aiai” eventually we will have to dance that!”

“Oh that will be fun,” said Anchan 

“Fun?” asked Shuka

Anchan hummed

Everybody looked at each other with skeptical looks

 

“The song sounds fresh, vividly, happy... it brings you like a ‘sunshine’ vibe...”

Nanaka wasn’t the only one who raised her eyebrows and said aloud “Eh?!”

“That’s so vague!” complained Aiai with her high pitch. 

“I know, sorry I can’t relate to nothing else,” said Anchan sad

“So who’s the center?” asked again Arisa

 

_Who cares?!_

 

Nanaka frowned, Anchan shrugged

 

“Well I don’t know, it doesn’t have a solo part,” said softly Anchan 

“What?!” said “First years” at the same time 

“Well, it makes sense,” said Nanaka softly, everybody looked at her, “ the sound producer said it’s a special song for the 9 of us, why would one of us have a special line in the song?”

A few nodded to that statement

“But ‘Chika-chan’ is the leader,” said Rikako

“So?” said Aina who has been really quiet,” it doesn’t mean that she needs to be the center of every song, there are 9 of us”

“Doesn’t ‘Chika-chan’ And ‘Riko-chan’ had the center in “ _Kimi no Kokoro wa Kagayaiteru kai_?” asked King

“Not necessarily!” said Arisa, “they got the solo, but we don’t know if they got the center”

 

Nanaka rolled her eyes. 

Seriously, is that really important? Being the leader, get the solos or being the center? 

They are a group, they should watch all for the common good of the group more than the personal interests of each other. 

 

“I believe we will not have any centers in this single,” said Nanaka in monotone, she gained a disconfirm look from everyone. She just blinked

“Why would you think that?” asked Arisa with a bit of annoyance in her voice

“Because we are not prepared yet, they are making us sing together and if Anchan was right, this new song doesn’t have a solo line; we will sing these songs as a group. Also what the sound producer said about this particular song, and the time is taking them for us to record them”

 

Everybody was silent. 

“I had a special vocal training before recording”  finished Anchan, everybody got what Nanaka meant with that with a clear “Oh~”. 

“We are not ready to have solos” 

Sentenced Nanaka with her monotone, she got a few “hums” from her fellow members. 

 

“Ok girls!” called Nagasaki Yukio

Everybody stopped the chitchat and looked at the sound producer, the Chief of staff, the recording staff and of course the dance teachers who weren’t so happy. 

“Please gather in the center of the room where all the mikes are located ” 

They did as they were told. 

 

“So where exactly do you want to put ‘this’ into the song?” asked the Chief of staff towards Nagasaki Yukio

“In the intro of course!” he said excitedly 

Somehow the girls looked at Anchan, she just shrugged. 

Arisa cleared her throat and took a step forward.

 

“So how exactly ‘this’ have something to do with the song?”

Nagasaki Yukio stopped whatever he was doing and looked at Arisa with a puzzled look

“Excuse me?” 

“I don’t understand, how the song it’s connected to us making whatever are we going to record now, with the essence and all of that”

All the girls shared a puzzled look; Arisa got a point. 

The Chief of staff nodded too, it seems he was puzzled too. 

 

Nagasaki Yukio cleared his throat

“Fair enough, Komiya-san, you are right,” he said with a calmer tone. 

“First this song, ‘Step! ZERO to ONE’, was mean to be special for all of you for what I already explained, and because its meaning it’s that all of you are starting in a ‘zero point’ and have to make the step to one, maybe you don’t get it right now, but trust me, you will once the song it’s complete, and then when I entered this room and listened to all of you, I just couldn’t help but imagine all the characters talking so vividly on the beach before the song starts.”

He made a signal to the recording staff.

“Remember that all of you have to be one with your characters, so the best way to connect with them it’s to give them your essence...”

 

_So the essence of this group it’s to be noisy...?_

 

“I want to give to this song a bit of ‘Seiyuu touch’, something from you to connect to them...” 

everybody nodded. Nanaka frowned. 

“And for the record...everything you do in this project, it’s for the sake of the song, the drama or the project itself, don’t forget that.” 

Arisa bit her lips. 

 

It was something like, “we know what are we doing so don’t ask stupid questions” if this man wants to record them doing whatever, he knows why it’s necessary and they need to do as they told. 

 

So the instruction was easy, just get into character and talk whatever nonsense they wanted to talk, but in character. Like they used to do with their own voices. 

Nagasaki Yukio made them repeat that “exercise” a few times to get the very best of the girls, but the loudest thing you could heard was Aina saying **“Shiny”** constantly and behind that, just the girl's voices “talking”, but you can’t figure out what are they talking exactly. 

 

Noise. 

Nanaka just couldn’t do it. 

She can’t improvise “small talking” in Kanan’s voice. She needed a context, a scrip, maybe a situation? 

So basically she smiled nervously and let the other girl's voices drowned her own. 

Maybe she still felt so far from Kanan to start improvising some random situation in her voice. 

Voice she is not used to it yet. 

 

In any case, this recording wasn’t that long, and soon Yukio and the Chief of staff gathered their recording stuff and left the room. 

For the dance teachers enjoyment to continue the P.E session and for the girls disgrace to keep up the training. 

The session was until lunch break. 

 

 

 

For the girls, the real bonding moment is when they are not doing something related to the project, like having lunch. 

Small talk between them gets them to know more from each other. More than dancing and training, while they are doing things related to the project they are focused on their personal development inside the project, or how can they improve their dancing skills. Yes, the sense of dancing together or doing things together helps, but for the sake of the project no for the sake of their friendship. 

If they wanted to have that of course. 

 

Nanaka wasn’t great at talking, but she was a good listener. So even if she didn’t contribute a lot to the conversation, she listened, laughed and enjoyed everybody's company. Indeed she learned a bit more about “First years”. 

And that’s what you never got bored with them. 

 

When Anchan started talking about her experience recording the new song, Nanaka thought it was time to leave. 

She was next to record and she didn’t want to have a preconceived idea of the song; it was enough with the information she already had. 

A happy, fast and “sunshine” feel song. 

So she excused herself and left the dining room to go straight to the cottage and change her clothes for her recording session. It’s not that changing was mandatory, but she felt a little sweaty and smelly with the training clothes. 

 

So she changed into her blue long sweat-shorts, a yellow shirt and on top, a light grey jersey. Even if it was hot outside, she heard from Anchan that the recording studio had an air conditioner, so it could get a bit chilly.

She did her hairstyle too, with a half bun; she thought about doing Kanan’s ponytail but dismissed the idea for no particular reason. 

Then got out of the cottage to abruptly stop her steps to find out someone sitting on the porch of the cottage.

 

She swallowed hard.

 

She closed the door slowly, but it didn’t matter, the only way out was at the front door, so she would stomp with this someone anyway. 

She blinked a few times and then sighed. 

 

_It can’t be helped..._

 

She walked in her slow pace towards her but stopped again when she heard soft sobs coming from her. She made a bitter expression. 

 

“Anchan?” 

Nanaka called, Anchan turned her head around fast towards Nanaka with a shocked expression, then quickly tried to dry her tears

 

“Su... Suwawa...” 

Said softly Anchan trying to gather her dignity back. Nanaka walked to her side with a worried expression.

 

“What’s wrong? Something happened?”

Anchan just shook her head. 

 

“Damn, I don’t have a handkerchief... wait...” 

Nanaka said with a soft tone and rushed inside the cottage, entered the bathroom and took some toilet paper and rushed outside with Anchan. 

 

“Here...” Nanaka said offering the paper, Anchan took it and said a soft “thank you”

Nanaka smiled back and moved out of the cottage. 

 

“Suwawa...” called Anchan; Nanaka stopped her steps and looked back at her 

 

“Can....can we talk?” Anchan said softly

 

Nanaka rose her eyebrows, and then she gave her the perfect “Suwa face”

 

 

_Perfect, another “talk”..._

 

 

She blinked a few times, trying to convince herself that her actions with the toilet paper should have been enough. 

But of course, it wasn’t. 

 

Nanaka walked back to the cottage and sat by her side then rubbed her back. 

 

“There, there...”Nanaka tried to ease the moment

 

“I’m sorry Suwawa, I thought I was alone...” 

 

_Sure, no one saw me leaving the dining room..._

 

Nanaka didn’t say a thing.

 

“I’m sorry...” Anchan said again; Nanaka just rolled her eyes. 

 

“What happened Anchan? It’s this because of the song?”

Asked sweetly Nanaka. 

 

That made her sense, the production staff sometimes forgets that they are working with children. Yes, she is 20, but Anchan and Shuka are 19 and 18 respectively; they were newbies in this industry and of course, they can get a little sensitive... 

She was also completely destroyed by them when they told her she wasn’t up for the task. 

Maybe Anchan performance during the recording of the song destroyed her confidence too.  

 

“I think it’s everything...” she said softly, “ I was thinking what you told me yesterday; I believe I can’t be the leader...” 

 

Nanaka opened her eyes wide and stopped rubbing Anchan’s back.

 

“Really...?” asked Nanaka with clear surprise in her voice.

 

“Yeah... I mean... you are right, no one asked me to be the leader of ‘Aqours’, I just assumed that because of ‘Chika-chan’ and tried so hard to be like her... but I think I can’t... I don’t fit, I’m not up for the task” 

 

Nanaka bit her lips. 

So clearly she ruined “Aqours leader”.

 

“Where is this negativity coming from?” asked Nanaka trying to soften the ambient. 

 

“I'm like this ..." Anchan said sadly, "I've always been like that, I'm also very insecure ... I do not know how I got this role ... I promised that if I did not get the role of 'Chika-chan', I would quit being a Seiyuu...”

 

Nanaka opened her eyes wide and bit her lips once again. 

She could tell that Anchan was kinda shy, and very reluctant to make a fool of herself (task that she constantly fail due to Shuka and Aiai making her doing silly stuff anyway) but hearing this kind of statements from someone who was always talking “positively” and trying so hard to push them further, was a big punch to take. 

So she wasn’t the only one who was wearing a mask within the group. 

 

“You are not talking seriously are you?” said Nanaka in shock

“I am,” said Anchan cleaning her tears out of her eyes

Nanaka hummed

 

“Isn’t too soon to decree such thing? Anchan, sweetie you are just 19... you have your whole career ahead...” said Nanaka with a sweet tone

“I know! But one thing it’s to have a role and the other one is, besides that role have another one with the members...”

Nanaka blinked a few times; well that made sense this franchise requires the cast to jump out of the screen, it’s like a double role.

 

“If you don’t feel up to be the leader, then who among us?” said Nanaka softly trying to soften the conversation 

 

“Well... you told me that you don’t have the personality,” Anchan giggled,” I thought that maybe ‘Dia-sama’ could fit perfectly...”

Nanaka frowned 

_Dia...sama...?_

_Good Lord, Arisa Komiy_ a... 

 

“Really?” asked Nanaka a bit annoyed 

So Arisa wasn’t just hunting her, she was hunting Anchan too...

 

“Yeah, she is so mature, so dependable, so reliable—“

“Ok stop,” said Nanaka with a tired tone. 

If she wanted to hear a list of all the fabulous attributes of Arisa Komiya, she just needed to remember how she wasn’t up for her own task. 

 

Anchan looked at her with a sad face. 

“Anchan sweetie,” started Nanaka with her calm tone, “ I know I told you to think about it, but that was yesterday, you still have days to keep thinking, I think you are rushing this topic a bit ...” 

 

“But-“ tried Anchan, Nanaka just give her a sign to wait

“What happened while recording the song?” asked Nanaka 

Anchan tighten her grip on the toilet papers

“I don’t think you are like this just because what we talked yesterday” 

“Yeah... well, I got a lot of crap from the producer...” 

 

_No kidding..._

 

“They are really looking up for me, and wanting a lot for me, I just don’t feel capable...” Anchan voice started to crack once again, Nanaka looked at her with sad eyes

 

_What should I do...?... What should I do...? What Kanan would do...?_

 

“So, when they started talking about my role as a leader and how I wasn’t acting like one, our conversation came to me, and stroke me you know? You were right! I’m still young, and inexperienced...and this it’s a lot of pressure, I just I can’t!” 

Anchan ended her statement crying once again; Nanaka didn’t think twice and hug her.

 

She gently rubbed her back and comforted her.

 

This wasn’t fair, Nanaka thought, why these people were so reckless with a bunch of kids. Yes, they are kids! No matter how “experienced” might Rikako be because being the oldest or Arisa being the real “experienced” one. They were kids playing to be idols and these people were putting too much pressure on Anchan’s back. 

So who among them fit as a leader? 

Right now maybe no one, that’s why they are “training” them. 

In any case, the production was really stubborn making Anchan the leader, they even changed her card presentation, reaffirming ‘Chika’ as their leader.

Maybe the production saw something in Anchan on the auditions? 

Because, in her case, they saw another Suwa Nanaka, capable to fit in the Matsuura Kanan they designed, but in the reality, she couldn’t. 

Instead, they changed the character to fit her and tossed her attributions to another person who fits better, like Arisa Komiya. 

So, if they keep trying to make Anchan the member's leader that means that no one else can.

 

Anchan was screwed. She has to do it. Period.   
And then again, they signed up for this, so they have to bear with it. 

 

Nanaka separated from Anchan and looked right into her eyes. 

“Anchan if you have these thoughts why you haven’t told this to the Chief of Staff?” 

Anchan sobbed a few times, then cleared her voice. 

“I can’t...I can’t disappoint them.”

Nanaka frowned 

 

_I disappointed them..._

 

“Have you talked this with Komiya-san?” 

Anchan opened her eyes wide in alarm

“No, why?” 

“You think she fits as our leader, I don’t know, get her advice...?”

“Oh, no, no, I can’t “ 

Nanaka blinked a few times 

“Why?...”

“Suwawa, she is scary...”

Nanaka snorted 

 

_Yes, she is..._

 

“Why you think she is scary?” asked Nanaka in an amused tone 

“She is so serious...”

“I am serious too...”

“But you are kind! And have a sleepy sweet face... and Shuka likes you, it’s easy to talk to you...” 

Nanaka made a goofy smile.

 

_Shuka likes me.... she likes me... hey! Focus..._

 

Nanaka shook her head and shared a smile with her 

 

“Well if you feel that way about Komiya-san then she can’t be the leader...” 

Anchan blew her nose with a few toilet paper.

 

“The leader should be someone who you can trust with, not to be scary by... what about Aida-san? She is the oldest...” 

Anchan blinked a few times thinking 

 

“In μ’s, the member's leader wasn’t Nitta-san, it was Nanjo-san, not sure why, maybe because she was the oldest and maybe the experienced one?...but Nitta-san just did her role as ‘Honoka’ in front of the audience, but behind it wasn’t her...” 

 

“I know... but, I don’t know... I can’t give that to Rikyako...”

“Why not? You were willing to give that role to Komiya-san, or me!” 

Anchan giggled 

 

“Maybe I don’t see her so reliable...” 

 

_And you see me reliable?!_

 

Nanaka snorted and rubbed Anchan’s back

 

“If someone it’s reliable in this group that’s Furihata-san, but I’m sure no one will take her seriously...” 

Anchan laughs hard about that. 

Nanaka stopped the rubbering and cleared her voice.

 

“If you think carefully, then who can fit that role besides you?” asked Nanaka sweetly 

Anchan remained silent thinking about it. Nanaka didn’t need to think too much, it was clearly for her that no one fitted that spot.

 

“From "First years"; no one seems to take this seriously, Aiai it’s the mascot, Aikyan and King were always fooling around...”

Nanaka nodded 

“Then for 'Second years'; besides me, Rikyako it’s clumsy, and not very reliable...maybe a little plain? We bullied her almost all the time too... then Shuka.... well, she is the youngest...and a little bit silly...”

 

_Hey! That’s not fair! Silly? she is not silly, she is cute... Is she serious?_

 

Nanaka opened her eyes wide.

 

“As for "Third years"...well you told me you don’t have the energy...”

“If Aida-san it’s plain for you then I’m dead...” said Nanaka in her monotone, Anchan giggled

“For me Anchan, it’s not only that I lack energy, I’m sure plainer than Aida-san, I’m not spontaneous, and I’m very quiet. I can follow the script, but I can’t improvise, so trust me, I can’t lead...”

“Well if you said so... ah.. ‘Dia-sama’ it’s too serious and scary, and well...Ainya...”

Both stayed silent, then looked at each other and laugh. 

“She is adorable...”

“Yes she is...” said Nanaka with a smile.

 

Aina was just too weird to fit in that spot. 

 

“Suwa-san?” 

Both heard clearly on their left, so both of them turned her heads towards the voice.

Nanaka frowned while Anchan cleaned ferociously her eyes.

The creepy assistant of the notebook was standing there with a smile

To tell the truth, Nanaka had already forgotten about her, she was like a ghost. 

“It’s your turn to record, please follow the schedule...”

Nanaka nodded and sighed heavily; she stood up. 

 

The assistant left and walked to the recording studio. 

 

_I bet there’s going to be some cute and sisterly interaction between ‘Chika’ and ‘Kanan’ now..._

 

She looked at Anchan.

 

“Well, Anchan, I can’t decide for you, but I can tell you one thing;” 

Anchan opened her eyes wide

 

“You are not alone, there are nine of us here, even if right now looks likes everybody is trying to run on their own and nothing had shape, we will soon grab some self-confidence to feel like a real group, at least that’s it what I want to believe after this camp, today it’s just the second day...so no matter how lost or down you feel, even if we don’t have a leader; if we could unite, the nine of us, I’m sure that everything will gain a better form and it could grow in some good production for all of us to be proud...” 

 

Anchan was in awe, maybe this was the first time she heard Nanaka talking that much. 

 

“Suwa-san...” she said softly

“Just keep thinking about it, but don’t give up on us yet”   
Said Nanaka walking at her own slow pace to the recording room. 

 

_First “talk” done._

 

Nanaka understood what she told Anchan yesterday was different from what she just told her now. 

Anchan was still too young and inexperienced to be the leader, that’s for sure, but the production wants her and no one else to fit that spot, if they wanted another person they would have changed her already, instead they keep trying to force her to do it. 

Anchan has to realize that on her own and do her best to fit the spot the production it’s giving to her. 

She believed that Anchan will choose to keep up being the leader because, after this talk, she will realize that no one else can do it beside her, but everybody will be there supporting her. 

 

_That’s her role in this group..._

 

Nanaka stood out of the recording cottage.

She took a deep breath; if the producer gave Anchan a lot of crap, then she will receive more than her for sure. 

She blinked a few times and a thought stroke her like a lightning 

 

_Then, what’s my role in this group?_

 

 

 

 

The recording session was terrible. 

But she expected that anyway.

The room was big and full of people, from the producer Nagasaki Yukio, to the Chief of staff, one of his assistants, all the recording staff and the cameraman. ( she had forgotten about him too, Anchan didn’t tell them that the recording session was going to be filmed as well). 

She had her “Suwa face” while feeling embarrassed about being the center of attention; another reason why being the leader was out of the question. 

 

First, she sat on the big white couch that it was almost the size of the room; she got a lot of insight into the song, the lyrics and it’s meaning. 

She first listened to the instrumental version; recognized how the “noise” they recorded a few hours ago will fit in the song’s intro. 

Anchan was right, the song was happy, fast, beach like, and gives you a “sunshine” vibe. 

 

After what it seemed a long talking with Nagasaki Yukio about the song and how it should be sung, the vocal training started; here is where everything started to be terrible. 

Kanan’s voice was supposed to be mellow and high pitched; like a “Pure attribute" should be, and of course, it’s a little bit far from her normal tone.

This vocal training took her a lot of glasses of water, a lot of deep breathes and a big share of patience to don’t cry, get mad, or just send everything to hell. In the back of her mind she repeated to herself constantly “this is for my own good, this is for me to get better... I need to bare with this” 

As for the Chief of staff and Nagasaki Yukio, this vocal training took them a lot of massages on their temples and a big share of patience too. 

 

After what Nanaka thought it was forever, her moment to record started. 

And it was equally terrible. 

She had to repeat the song lots of times for several reasons; like she wasn’t in character, she didn’t get the tone right or she didn’t bring any emotion at all. 

 

Once, Nagasaki Yukio had to stop the song and asked Nanaka if she didn’t get the insight of the song. 

Nanaka just look at him with her “Suwa face”, but didn’t give him any answer; he told her the song was happy, it was a coupling song but she looked so dead singing it. 

 

“Suwa-san, it supposed that you have to convey the feelings of this camp into this song...” said Nagasaki Yukio on the other side of the booth. 

 

“Yes...” said Nanaka in her monotone looking at the door of the booth where the cameraman was with a happy grin recording her, she just tried to ignore him.

 

 _So, the feelings of this camp ah? ....well, that’s confusing... how should I sing this? this camp gave me... what?..... Love? Passion? A hot kiss....?..... Nanaka focus_! _confusions? Anger?... no, I don’t think Arisa gave me "anger", frustration ...? Disappointment..._

 

“Suwa-san?” 

She heard from the headphones, then she realized that the song had already started and she didn’t sing at all... 

 

“I’m sorry...” she said again; she saw the Chief of staff grabbing his temples once again and Nagasaki Yukio rubbering his eyes. 

 

_How should I sing this thing?!!!!!!!_

 

She freaked out. 

But she looked so dead from the outside, and that was what the Chief of staff and the producer had them at the point of taking their eyes out.

They didn’t understand that Suwa Nanaka was like that; serious, her emotions were hidden deep inside of her, and she can’t sing histrionically like the rest of cast. 

She was a low energy person and they can’t change that, even if they gave her a super energetic character to play. 

 

 

After the recording, Nanaka was very well drained; but she couldn’t leave yet. 

The producer made her sat on the couch a few minutes and told her that in the next few months she needs to work on her charisma; Kanan it’s a charismatic character and she isn’t portraying her the way she should, and that’s bothering him. 

He reminds her that her role as “Third years” leader was still on hold, he really wanted Kanan to have it because that’s was what they designed, but with Nanaka behaving that way it was for sure that the role was going to be tossed to Arisa Komiya. 

She needed to fight about it. 

In October they will hold a commemorative campaign for the first single, they will be separated into year groups to promote it; so he highly recommended her to use that opportunity to prove them wrong, that Kanan deserves the leader role and not Dia. 

Well, we are in August, there’s still time to do something about it. 

 

 

 

Nanaka left the recording studio with her heart and soul shrugged.  

Not to mention that she was drained almost to death too. 

She walked a few steps to nowhere in particular; she was feeling dizzy, tired, sad...

 

And now she had to return to dance practice...

 

_No way, I can’t do it..._

 

She walked with her slow pace to Lodge 202, if she recalled right, Arisa was the next one to record. 

She checked her phone to watch the time; her recording session was almost for 4 hours, more than Anchan for sure. 

Arisa’s recording will take place in one hour from now; that meant that the production knew that her recording session will be long, 5 hours long.

And between Arisa’s and Rikako’s are a 4 hours gap because dinner it’s in between, so in reality, it’s a 3 hours gap.

Of course, Arisa Komiya will take fewer hours for recording and she will nail it.

 

_Fuck it._

 

**Suwa Nanaka reached her limits.**

**She increased her speed to reach Lodge 202, where her room was; every step was more painful than the other one.**

**Every step was a failure, every step was a reminder that she wasn’t up for the task, that she didn’t fit the character, that she isn’t fitting the new character the production changed for her, that she can’t sing in her character’s tone nor reach her high tones.**

 

**She started running.**

**She disappointed the production, she has low stamina, she can’t get the choreography right, her role as a leader will be tossed to someone else, she doesn’t have anything related to her character.**

**Why was she here?**

**She reached the porch of Lodge 202, and almost crash her body into the door with her arms.**

**She rested her forehead on the door and couldn’t help but cry with bitterness against the door with her teeth tightened in anger, frustration, and sadness.**

**“Suwawa...?”**

**She heard; the world stopped.**

**She sobbed a few times, and closed her eyes tight with more pain, letting her tears fall helplessly.**

**That was Aina’s voice.**

**Ready or not, she was going to have that “talk”.**

.

 

.

 

.

 

The night was a bit cold, but somehow it felt refreshing. 

After a long and tired day, a bit of a cold breeze was very well welcomed.

It was late, it was dark, it was quiet. 

It was perfect.

 

Nanaka sighed with a heavy heart and her soul shrugged. 

She was sitting outside on the porch of the Reception cottage; she had a bottle of milk between her hands, her comfy sleeping clothes, her hair made into a bun and her glasses on, and her basket with her stuff on her side. She just got out of the bathroom but didn’t feel like going back to Lodge 202.

 

After dinner Arisa had this wonderful idea to go the 9 of them to the spa; she said something like “this is Japan, and on ancient times people bond opening to each other and taking a bath together”.

 

Nanaka freaked out. 

How much more can she hate Arisa? 

 

“First years” of course made a lot of fuss and said that it was a great idea, Anchan and Shuka, of course, followed thru with them, Aina just laughed like an old man, while Rikako made a bitter smile but she didn’t say anything about it, she was really nervous about her time to record even if you couldn’t tell; she ended up eating Nanaka’s dinner leftovers.

 

While Nanaka massaged her temples trying to figure it out how to avoid this situation, the rest of the members just started to move and prepare. 

She didn’t feel ready, she was coming out from an exhausting conversation with Aina, plus training; she didn’t feel ready to see everybody naked. 

Actually, she needed space, and please God, silence. 

 

Somehow she manages to avoid that situation exchanging it with another one that maybe she wasn't prepared to have yet; the “talk” with Shuka.

 

_Good Lord._

_I manage to do almost all the “talking” today..._

_I’m beaten._

 

She took some sips from her milk. 

In the end, she ended up bathing in her cottage, Lodge 202, and then went out for a bottle of warm milk to avoid going upstairs with everybody. 

She could hear them even from where she was seated; she could recognize Aina’s laugh in a crowded place easily now and with this quiet place, Aina’s voice stood out even more.

 

_She is cute..._

 

She heard footsteps approaching towards her; she tightened her grip on the bottle of milk and silently prayed for that to be someone of the staff, maybe someone of the village, but no one from the members, 3 “talks” today was enough. 

 

“Suwa-san” she heard clearly 

Nanaka did a painful mock on her face.

 

_Good Lord!_

_From all of them..._

_HER._

 

Nanaka lifted her head and looked at her with her “Suwa face”; it was late, it had been a long day to have her mask on.

 

“Komiya-san,” she said dryly.

From all the members, the last person she wanted to talk right now was her, Arisa Komiya. 

 

Arisa had her serious face on her, but one of her hands was on her stomach. Something wasn’t right. 

Arisa did a small bow and walked inside the cottage. 

For a small moment, Nanaka felt relieved, that meant that she didn’t want to talk too. 

But nothing it’s perfect. She heard her steps stopping just in front of the door. 

 

“You know...” said Arisa.

Nanaka closed her eyes painfully 

 

_Damn! Why?!_

_Go your way...and I go mine..._

 

She heard the steps going back to her side

“I think it’s a good moment, you can’t run away anymore,” Arisa said, both shared some gazes. 

“I can refuse to talk,” said dryly Nanaka

“I appreciate if you don’t do that”

Nanaka blinked a few times and took her sight away from Arisa

 

_Ok, talk number 4..._

 

“Why you didn’t come to the Spa?” asked Arisa concerned

“I didn’t want to.” said dryly Nanaka

“Why?” Arisa insisted 

“Because reasons.”

“Do you have something to do that Shuka didn’t come too?”

 

_Yes_

 

“No.” 

Arisa sighed and with a bit of resignation, she sat at her side. 

 

“It’s ok if you don’t want to talk; I’m gonna do the talking, so please listen,” Arisa said in a very mature tone; Nanaka hummed. 

 

“I don’t know why are you like this with me, I know you are not this unpleasant with the rest of the members, it’s just me, so I need to know what the hell did I do to you to have this treatment,”

 

_Nothing..._

 

“But I guess I can figure it out,” Arisa searched for Nanaka’s eyes, but Nanaka was focused on nothing in the distant.

“I can relate to you, you know?” Said Arisa, that statement made Nanaka turn her face furiously towards her.

 

_Relate? with me?_

_HOW?!_

 

“That surprise you?” Arisa asked like if she had read her mind

“Totally,” said Nanaka dryly 

Arisa giggled 

“Within the members, you and I are the quietest, I can understand your annoy when all of them are like...well the way they are..”

“What about Aida-san?” asked Nanaka 

“She is quiet too, but fits with them more than us...she is a ‘Second year”, Saito-san and Inami-san will take care of her”

Nanaka hummed again. 

This has nothing to do with her unpleasant behavior towards her. 

 

“Listen, I don’t know what happened, I assumed it has something to do with ‘Kanan-san’,” 

Nanaka tightened her grip on the bottle more

“...I, I had a conversation with the producer today, on my recording session, he told me that I have to take the ‘Third years’ leadership because ‘Kanan-san’ can’t do it...” 

Nanaka swallowed hard. 

Of course, they were going to tell her, it’s not going to be a secret for too long

 

“Did you know about it?” Arisa asked 

“Yes, I knew...” Nanaka said with a bitter and sad tone

“Ok...”

 

Nanaka looked at the nothing in the distance once again; she felt her eyes watering

“Why can’t you do it?...or is it that you don’t want to?” asked Arisa again with concern

“I can’t do it, I’m not up for the task,” Nanaka said with a knot in her throat 

“I see...” said Arisa with her serious tone

They were silent a few more seconds that Nanaka thought it was forever, and since she didn’t say a thing, Arisa continued.

 

“Ok, so, I’m guessing your behavior towards me it’s because you feel I’m stealing your role, and it’s been a while you are acting like this, so I’m assuming you knew this from almost the beginning....” 

Nanaka looked in shame on the floor. 

It sounded silly coming from Arisa’s mouth

“That’s so childish,” she said at the end.

Nanaka frowned and looked at her with a serious face

“I don’t want your opinion.” Nanaka said dryly in her “Suwa tone”. 

Arisa lifted her eyebrows with surprise; Nanaka had always been so quiet and polite, the only moment she lost her nerves was when the Lead teacher tried to force her to do the leapfrog on the first day. 

But maybe because Nanaka was having a really crappy day, the last thing she wanted was to be forced to do something she knew she couldn’t do, and she was at her patience limits. 

Then, Arisa understood. 

 

That day was the voice check session, maybe that day Nanaka was told that she couldn’t fit her character, that she wasn’t up for the task, that her leadership role would be tossed to her, and later on, she was forced to try to do a leapfrog that she knew she couldn’t make, and Shuka had to do it instead of her, yet, another failure. 

So, no, it’s not childish, she is hurt, she must be feeling like crap.

 

“I’m sorry,” said Arisa with clear sincerity 

Nanaka took out her sight of her

“I..I didn’t know...” continued Arisa with a sad tone

“Nobody knows” Nanaka lied, Aina, it’s the only one who knows, but who cares now.

“You should have told me,” said Arisa more confident

“Why? It’s not my decision...” said Nanaka looking at Arisa again

“Because I would help you, I don’t know! Do something about it, say 'no' to the producer or at least know!”

“How? Komiya-san, it’s not that easy to refuse production's orders”

“I don’t know,” 

Arisa made a pause then she placed a hand on Nanaka’s shoulder forcing her to look at her right into her eyes,

“Suwa-san, the last thing I wanted it’s to take somebody’s job, I don’t want to take your job away, I just knew about it; and I believe in this group, I want to be part of it, and you were shutting me out because you are feeling crappy about it,  if I knew something like this was happening I would just help you...you should have told me”

Nanaka blinked a few times; Arisa’s face was indeed scary, she is so serious 

 

Nanaka made a motion for Arisa to leave her; Arisa withdraws her hand and looked at her.

Nanaka sighed softly

 

_She is not a bad person, it was just me..._

 

 

“You are not an easy person to talk Komiya-san,” said Nanaka softly

“Eh? Why?” Arisa said with clear surprise

“You are so serious all the time, it’s scary, actually it scares ours ‘ _kouhais_ ’,“

Arisa snorted, then laughed  

“Oh my God, Suwa-san, we are not ‘ _senpais_ ’ here, we are in the same boat, we are... I dunno, friends wannabe?”

“You still call me by my last name”

“Because you do too, and actually I don’t feel like I’m your friend with that unpleasant behavior of yours...I don’t even feel like your coworker” 

“Point taken,” said Nanaka dryly 

“But now I know why, and I’m sorry, I wish I could help you somehow...”

“I think there’s nothing that I can do about it,” Nanaka said sadly 

“Why? How did this happen?” Arisa asked with concern

 

Nanaka took her time to answer; should she trust Arisa with this? Well, she will find out anyway, and she is a “Third year” like her, so maybe it’s foolish to try to hide her situation. 

 

“Well,” she started, and tightened her grip on the bottle,” it happened because my audition was different from the voice check session; the ‘Kanan’ they designed it’s way more different than me, also the inconsistency of the creators towards the voice attributions, everything turned out way different from what they designed”

“What? How?”

“‘Kanan’ was supposed to be a ‘Cool’ attribute, straightforward, a tomboy, energetic, sporty, and of course, with a nice body...” 

Nanaka turned her head towards Arisa and looked at her with a funny face

“Do you think I fit that profile?” she said with an amused voice

Arisa bit her lips

“Of course not Komiya-san, don’t sweat it” she giggled

“My voice fits more like a ‘Pure’ attribute, I’m not sporty as you can see, I don’t have energy and I have low stamina, I’m not straightforward like they want me to be, I’m too girly and of course I don’t have that nice body...”

“But–“ Arisa tried But Nanaka gave her a sign that she wasn’t finished

“They saw that, and within the ‘Third years’, ‘Dia’ was the conflict, she has to be a ‘Cool’ attribute too, she has character and... well, you are her voice...” 

Nanaka made a pause and looked at Arisa with a coy smile

 

“Your voice it’s ‘Cool’, you have more experience as an MC, you had better stamina and of course... you have a nice body...” Nanaka felt her cheeks becoming red, clearly, she saw Arisa’s cheek becoming red too

“You fit ‘Kanan’ more than me, but you also fit ‘Dia’, you even look like her and of course you can’t do two roles, so for them it was easy to toss you some attributes that can be tossed, and as for me, change the character a bit ...”

 

Nanaka finished her sentence and looked at the ground closing her eyes in sadness. 

What didn’t she tell her is that she was disappointing the production in the new character they designed as well, but what now? They are going to made Aina fit for her? Of course not.

 

“Wow,” said Arisa in a small tone

“I’m sorry Komiya-san, I know it’s not your fault, I know you didn’t know, I know it wasn’t fair, but every time I see you, I see my failure...”   
Nanaka’s voice was trembling but was soft

“The only thing I have from ‘Kanan’ it’s her ponytail...”

“And her voice.” said with confidence Arisa

 

Nanaka looked at her and made a bitter expression

 

_Not yet..._

 

“Suwa-san, I’m really sorry about this, I wish I could know sooner, really...” 

“I’m still trying to figure out why they chose me you know?” said Nanaka sad

“Don’t waste time on that,” Said Arisa with her strong voice, Nanaka rose her eyebrows in surprise 

“Suwa-san, you are ‘Kanan-san’, no matter what did they designed before, you make the character come alive and that’s all that matters, they chose you for something, you are here and you are part of Aqours, because ‘Kanan-san’ its part of them, don’t shut her out as well...”

Nanaka bit her lips

 

“About me reminding you your failures... I.. l...” 

Arisa was trying to find the right words

“I’m not what you think, I have this body because I’m a model, I work with my body, you are a radio personality, your voice should be your strength, also, I’m...I’m so clumsy and insecure... I’m not used to working in groups...that’s why I’m so serious, so I get that the younger ones got scared... but I’m not like that... I’m a nerd.”

Nanaka snorted

“What?!”

“Yeah... I’m an otaku too”

Nanaka opened her eyes wide in surprise

 

_Who have ever thought..._

 

“I like manga,” said Arisa with her cheeks red

Nanaka hummed with a smile on her face

“So, what I mean...it’s, like I’m not ‘perfect’, I have flaws like everybody, you paint me like if I was someone unreachable...it’s what you do to ‘Kanan-san’ too, you think she is unreachable, but you are here, you need to get closer to her, in that way you can portray her the way you should, forget about what they designed, it’s in the past, focus on you, you have more of her than her ponytail...”

 

Nanaka made a bitter smile but she felt relieved. Maybe now she could record that song way better than she did in the afternoon.

Maybe she should have talked with Arisa sooner. 

 

“Thank you,” said softly Nanaka

“Don’t mention it” said Arisa sincerely 

“I’m worried you know,” continued Arisa,” I know I don’t fit as a leader because people it’s afraid of me, but I couldn’t help but worried about the group’s bond, that’s why I proposed the Spa thing”

“How so?”

“‘First years’ are already bounded, ‘Second years’ are on its way, Rikako it’s the only one who needs to fit better, but it’s on her way... but ‘Third years’?” 

Arisa looked at Nanaka with concern

“We are a mess, Aina, it’s always with ‘First years’ fooling around or with that silly couple; you are always with Shuka...now with Anchan too, and me I’m always with Rikako or King, we ‘Third years’ don’t bond, well you and Aina fit better than with me...but because you were acting weird with me”

Nanaka nodded, she felt that too.

“Besides that, Aqours felt like a group already segregated in subunits...I don’t feel a sense of unity...it's like everybody, it’s with her partner of comfort... I’m not judging, I like to spend my time with Rikako because she is quiet...but we need to be a group”

“You are totally right...”

“And it’s not fair that our leader had to do it for us”

Nanaka rosed her eyebrows again 

“You see Anchan as our leader?”

“Not yet, that’s why we need to help her”

Nanaka smiled at her.

 

_She is nice._

 

“I’ll tell you what,” said Arisa with a happy tone,” What about I help you to become more suitable for ‘Kanan-san’s’ sake? For you to be able to be an MC, more spontaneous and such...and you can help me be more friendly and no this serious...”

Nanaka snorted, it’s not like she is friendly either, she is just not that scary 

“Sounds fair.”

Sentence Nanaka at the end.

 

Both shared a smile, then felt quiet for a moment. 

The atmosphere felt nice once again, but they couldn’t stay like that for too long, it was starting to get chilly. 

Nanaka stood up, her bottle of milk now cold.

“Why did you come here Komiya-san?” Nanaka asked with a soft tone

“My stomach hurts...I came to get some pills” Arisa said standing up 

“Oh, is it bad?”

“Not that bad, maybe something in the hamburger was wrong? I hope Rikako don’t get sick too, she ate her portion and part of yours...”

Nanaka giggled.

Rikako was something like a glutton, she with Aina and King enjoyed so much eating. 

 

“You need me to wait for you?” asked Nanaka

“Nah, it’s ok, go get going, tomorrow we will go for a jog at the Yamanaka lake, you need your stamina” she laughed 

Nanaka deadpanned but smiled at the end. 

“Oh, did you heard about Shuka’s birthday party right?” asked Arisa 

“Yes, Aina told me about it, it’s next week right?”

“Saturday” confirmed Arisa, who started to move to the entrance of the cottage

“I’m not gonna miss it for the world,” said Nanaka dropping her bottle in a trash can, then grabbed her basket.

Arisa stopped at the entrance and looked at Nanaka with a malicious grin.

“I thought so... have a good night Suwa-san” 

“Good night~” 

Said Nanaka in her singsong voice and started moving in her slow pace towards the cottage.

 

To her surprise it was silent.

She couldn’t hear all the fuss her teammates were doing a few minutes ago, maybe the Lead teacher sends them straight to bed again; she looked carefully to the second floor of the cottage, the lights were out.

She frowned. 

Now how is she supposed to found her futon?

She made a soft sigh and continued her way. 

It was a difficult day indeed, from the beginning till the end, not just because the practice and recording were extremely soul-draining, but her “talks”, with Anchan, Aina, Shuka and now Arisa... were heart draining as well. 

Entering the cottage she saw that the teachers and assistants were still awake, it seems that they were waiting for her and Arisa to come back. 

Nanaka made the first stop in the bathroom and washed her teeth. When she got out, she said “goodnight” to the staff and carefully went upstairs.

She stopped on top of the stairs; It was dark, she could see only black shapes on the floor, she waited a bit for her eyes to be adapted to the dark. 

The soft light from outside helped her to find her futon; she could find it “easily” because she remembered yesterday order, and because the only two futons without being touch were from her and Arisa’s and they were sleeping next to each other. 

She moved carefully toward her futon; quietly she left her basket in the floor beside the wall, she left her glasses inside, and took out her phone with her, then arranged her futon groping it. 

She sat there a few seconds, somehow feeling all her exhaustion invading her. 

 

_What a day..._

 

She got inside the futon and turned around to Arisa’s side. She left her phone at her side but didn’t even care to look at it. 

Finally, she felt at ease, but still not quite comfortable. 

She closed her eyes.

Today sure was a rollercoaster of feelings and emotions, and at the end of the day, the average of it was a sad one. 

She had been struggling with her role in this project from the beginning, not fitting, trying to fit, failing constantly, needing help from everyone and then she insisted on having this mask around Anchan, Shuka and “First years”, that she is so demure and bulletproof... but the truth is that she needed to be comforted. So how long can she keep lying behind her mask?

She felt so sad, so tired, so fragile; she couldn’t help but feel the imperious desire to start crying again. 

They still haven’t had their debut and she was at her limit.

 

Suddenly she felt movement on her right; that was Aina’s futon, she recognized, but in the middle of that thought she felt cold breeze in her back that it was quickly replaced by a warm body sticking in her back. 

Nanaka opened her eyes wide. 

Someone was inside her futon. 

She couldn’t move, she couldn’t even breath. 

The warm body stuck even more and wrapped her arms around her. 

Nanaka didn’t say a word. 

 

_Who is it? Is it Aina?_

 

The only two people with enough confidence to do something like that were Shuka and Aina.

She moved her hands to touch the warm body’s hands; she softly caressed them trying to figure it out who’s hands were. 

But she couldn’t recognize it. 

It wasn’t small nor big so she couldn’t guess. 

She tried to feel the warm body stuck in her back, then again it was short, but how short? Shuka and Aina are short.

In this position, she couldn’t tell. 

 

_Is it Shuka?.... I can’t smell sweet peaches...I can’t smell anything...it can’t be Shuka, her futon is two people away...and not after what we talked..._

 

She tried to make sense. 

 

_Holy good Lord._

_It’s Aina._

 

She thought, but she wasn’t sure, she was just too scared to turn and look.

Then a cold sweat invades her; the warm body tighten her grip and moved Nanaka’s body with more strength towards her, and she could feel her head hiding in the back of Nanaka’s neck.

 

Then she didn't care who was it. 

She felt held, secure, loved; someone was comforting her, after this crappy and hellish day, someone was hugging her so tight and loving, something she didn’t felt in years. 

She tightened her grip into the body’s hands and closed her eyes letting soft tears falling helplessly thru her cheeks and making small sobbing that the warm body could recognize, so she tightened her grip against Nanaka and then she whispered in her ear...

 

“Everything it’s gonna be ok...”

 

Nanaka couldn’t recognize the voice but to tell the truth, she didn’t care anymore. 

No matter who was it now, as someone who cares about her and it was there to comfort her, to hold her, and maybe to love her. 

So the tears keep falling helplessly. 

 

In the quiet night where everyone else was there resting after a long day of practice and recording, soft sobbing and whimpers could be heard from two of the nine futons. 

The difference was that one person was held by _somebody_ while the other one was crying all alone. 

 

 

—0oo0—

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aina's and Shuka's talk are on Lies Under a Mask Ch 02.  
> Please look forward to that! ;)
> 
> We hoped you had enjoyed this chapter!  
> Thanks so much for the comments & Kudos! ;)!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The third day of Training Camp.  
> While being caught by Arisa doing "dirty stuff" on her futon, Suwa Nanaka debates her position inside Aqours.  
> Could she figure out her position?  
> Is it Aqours that important for her? or her personal life will be in the middle of this?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you haven't read Lies Under a Mask Chapter 02, we really recommend you to read it or you might miss a lot of things...  
> Second, We do a lot, and we mean A LOT of research to deliver this fic, so we will not mess around with heavy details like the real name of Suwawa; her real name is Kawakami Nao, it's on a leaked picture of her third year in high school were its written, you can find it on google. 
> 
> Please enjoy! : )

Masquerade Ch 05

 

Yamanaka Lake its the largest of the Fuji Five Lakes; it’s the third highest lake in Japan. Conversely, the lake is also the shallowest of the Fuji Five Lakes and it is the only of the Fuji Five Lakes to have a natural outflow.

Yamanaka Lake surrounds the beautiful village of Yamanakako; a village which is mostly protected by forest, extending the base of Mount Fuji, which is also visible from the village, giving the locals and travelers a wonderful view and an unforgettable sightseeing...

 

...all of this would mean a thing if Suwa Nanaka was actually concentrated in the “here and now” where she actually was. 

 

Third day of training camp; Aqours schedule for today morning activity was first to have a P.E session, where Shuka came in late and feeling really low with even a mask in her mouth and nose, and then to go for a jog on Yamanaka Lake in Yamanakako village, about 5.71 km from Sound Village where they were training. 

The morning was warm, the skies looked clear but the mood was terrible. 

 

Only 8 of the girls made it; Arisa Komiya was having a stomachache from last night that it seems that it didn’t ease, and after this morning events seemed to get worse, and she preferred to stay and record her mix instead of jogging around. 

 

For the 8 girls left, they took them into a minivan and went to the lake for the activity, but this time they weren’t alone, for the jog people from the staff would be joining too. 

 

So they were there, on the sidewalk stretching before the jog; it seems that ‘first years’ were happy and with a lot of energy like always, but the mood between Shuka, Nanaka and Aina was a bit gloomy, too quiet and serious even for two of them. 

Anchan was in her own complex situation; it seemed that her ankle was giving her some trouble so she was actually debating herself if she could do the jog or not. 

So it looked like that the only who was easy about this was Rikako, but maybe she was feeling lonely without Arisa...

 

Nanaka was with a green knickerbockers, a tight light yellow shirt and her light grey jersey with the hood on, and of course, with a serious “Suwa face”. 

She kept giving glances towards Aina and Shuka: Aina seems to be doing fine, quiet, but fine, as for Shuka...

Well, she was wearing her cap almost in the middle of her face, trying to hide the fact that she was maybe angry, frustrated, or even sad... she couldn’t know, Shuka was a kid and this morning events maybe were too much for her to handle. 

 

Nanaka closed her eyes and sighed softly.

This was her fault.  

 

 

 

 

 

Last night after talking with Arisa and realizing that she wasn’t a bad person, that was she, Suwa Nanaka, the one who was making things harder for them to be coworkers, she returned to the Lodge, got inside her futon and had another emotional breakdown. 

In the middle of that, _somebody_  got inside her futon and hug her tightly; at that moment she didn’t care who was it, but this morning she woke up realizing that this _somebody_ was still hugging her and they actually slept together. 

 

For her surprise this  _somebody_  was Shuka. 

And after revealing that it was really Aina who alerted Shuka that Nanaka was feeling bad and for that reason changed futons, both came to the conclusion that none of them wanted to disappoint each other. 

And they kissed. 

 

They kissed raw and wet there in the middle of the room, inside Nanaka’s futon with Shuka on top of her.   
The make-out sessions could have grown to something more if Arisa Komiya hadn’t stopped them with a simple angry whisper. 

 

Nanaka and Shuka stopped the make-out session in fear.

**Not 12 hours had passed since they agreed not to do stuff with the members around, and now Arisa knew.**

**How where they supposed to make this thing work if they were this reckless, and someone had already caught them?**

**It was about time for the Staff to know too, and then it would be the end for both of them.**

**Nanaka covered her face with both hands in shame.**

**She was the older in charge, the adult in this thing, and yet she let this kind of things happen.**

**She turned around to look to the other side; she didn’t want to see Arisa’s face of disapproval.**

**Nanaka uncovered her face to greet something even worse; Aina was sitting embracing her knees where Shuka’s futon should be, her eyes were swollen, as if she had been crying, and she had a disappointed look on her face.**

**Aina shook her head locking gazes with Nanaka.**

**What was worse, disapproval or disappointment?**

**She just closed her eyes and covered her face again with her hands; feeling that everything was falling apart and everything was out of her control.**

**A complete disaster.**

 

It was a matter of seconds that she stayed with her hands covering her face, she still could felt Shuka’s weight on top of her.   
What was wrong with this kid? Arisa’s angry face wasn’t enough to make her come back to her senses and get off of her?

 

Nanaka withdraws her hands off her face; she gave a small glance to Arisa who still had a prominent frown in her angry scary face. 

She blinked quickly and looked up for Shuka, she was looking down at her with a troubled look while biting her lower lip; it seems that Shuka was waiting for instructions.

 

“Get down,” said Nanaka coldly

 

Shuka blinked a few times trying to understand the command; a few seconds later she moved to her left letting Nanaka free from her body. 

Nanaka didn’t give much thought about it and used her strength left to get out of the futon.

She panicked. 

And what she does when she panicked?; she runs. 

 

She gave a serious look to Shuka, and without saying anything she moved the fastest she could towards the stairs.

 

She could hear a soft “Suwa-san” coming from Shuka’s lips, Arisa moving in her futon and Aina doing a small sobbing.

How long had been Aina actually awake crying, and why? 

 

She tried to rush down the stairs carefully to don’t wake up the teachers and assistants; luckily, all of them were still sleeping. 

She moved like a ninja towards the main door; she put on her shoes and finally rushed out of the cottage. 

 

She was greeted by a cold breeze. 

It was still too early, the sun had just raised up; she couldn’t help but shiver outside, indeed her futon was just too hot and the contrast was a bit too much. 

 

Her running took her a few steps from the cottage, she grabbed her head and closed her eyes. 

 

_ Why?! Why?! Why?! Why?! ....how reckless! Dammit, and it was Arisa who saw us from all people! Just when we were starting to understand each other, now how I’m gonna face her?!  And Ainya! She is gonna be so mad!  _

 

Nanaka grabbed her temples and started walking in circles in her distress. 

 

_ I should have stopped Shuka! This wasn’t appropriate! We talked about it! We have an agreement, both agreed it... why would she do this to me?!.... _

 

The truth was that it wasn’t only Shuka’s fault, she didn’t stop her in the first place, and actually, she didn’t want too. 

She liked that sensation; having Shuka so close, horny and sexy...but this wasn’t the time! Nor the place! 

What was wrong with them?! 

 

Nanaka kept the circle walking while graving her temples in a way to put her thoughts in order. 

 

Not only Aina saw them again, but now Arisa was a witness of this “forbidden love” they were having, and maybe Arisa wasn’t going to be nice like Aina to tell her to stop doing nonsenses. 

Arisa was professional, was diligent; she wasn’t going to accept this kind of behavior inside the group. 

 

_ Dammit! She is going to scold me... _

 

And maybe this time, not just her. 

Shuka will be scolded too. 

 

Nanaka stopped her steps giving her back to the cottage. 

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, still grabbing her temples.

 

Right now the only one who has talked seriously with Shuka about this topic was her; Aina’s talk with Nanaka wasn’t really a “scold”, but it was a serious talk and of course, a wake-up call for her to stop doing nonsenses, and stop whatever she had with Shuka at once. 

So Shuka hadn’t received any crap about this, and maybe if she got something it’s going to be easy on her because she is the “youngest and inexperienced”. 

Probably all the fault will fall upon Nanaka because she is the older one, meaning the responsible one of this “relationship”. 

 

 _ I have to take the blame...  
_ _ I have to protect Shuka from this... _

 

“Nao-san...” Nanaka heard softly 

 

Nanaka’s heart stopped at once. 

Not just because it was a beautiful voice calling her; was because that beautiful voice called her by her real name. 

Again.

She tightened her lips and clenched her fits. 

 

“Saito-san,” she said coldly, and slowly started turning around towards Shuka.

Shuka was standing there, without her shoes, shivering with her thin PJs, her hair was a mess and with a sad expression; her eyes became watery as soon as she heard being called “Saito-san” by Nanaka, such formalities weren’t common towards her, and also, the cold tone plus, Nanaka’s angry “Suwa face”. 

 

Shuka brought her hands to her mouth. 

 

“I introduced myself as ‘Suwa Nanaka’, so please, while we are working address me like that.”

Nanaka’s tone was cold and senseless; Shuka swallowed hard

 

“But...we are not working right now...” 

Shuka retorted with a small voice and with fear

 

“Yes we are, we are in a training camp, this is work.”

“I’m sorry...” said softly Shuka closing her eyes tight, still hiding behind her hands. 

 

“I think we should stop  _this_ ,” said Nanaka coldly again.

Shuka opened her eyes abruptly and withdrew her hands from her mouth

“It’s clear as water that we can’t do thi—“

“I refuse!” Interrupted Shuka, Nanaka opened her eyes in discomfort, her _kouhai_  was interrupting her

“Shuka.” scolded Nanaka with a serious tone

“I don’t want to stop it, and I believe you don’t want either ”

“You are not getting it!” said Nanaka with little patience, “ What we did was reckless! We agreed to don’t do stuff with the members around; not 12 hours had passed from that and see what happened, Komiya-san knows now!”

“So what?!” Shuka rosed her tone

Nanaka opened her eyes in disbelief 

 

“Let her know...I don’t care” continued Shuka seeing that Nanaka was astonished standing there looking at her,” What is she gonna do? Tell the staff?...” 

“Shuka...” 

“I get that doing stuff with all the members there was reckless... my bad, but it’s not reason enough for us to stop  _this_ , I want  _this_ ”

Shuka stepped closer to Nanaka and grabbed her hands, she held them tight with her owns; she looked straight into Nanaka’s eyes

 

“Suwa-san... I meant every word, from yesterday and from before on the futon, don’t you want this?” 

“It’s not whether I want or not!”

“Then what?! Is there something else you are not telling me? Is there someone else?”

“Eh?! Someone else?” asked Nanaka with a surprise voice

“Is there?...” said softly Shuka not taking her eyes out of Nanaka’s 

“Shuka, this isn’t about feelings...” said Nanaka more calmly and softly; Shuka opened her eyes wide, it seems that both were losing themselves again into each other eyes

“...it’s about our careers...” ended softly Nanaka. 

Both stayed quiet for a few seconds, or maybe minutes, in fact, they didn’t care, they were in this intense gaze competition, reading each other eyes and holding each other hands.

 

 _ Good Lord.   
_ _ I want to kiss her again...  _

 

Nanaka tried hard to resist the imperious desire to kiss her, to continue what they left there inside that futon, but this wasn’t the moment nor the time, so she kept fighting with her feelings, and it seems that Shuka was equally troubled; she kept licking her lips suggestively. 

 

“Suwa-san, Saito-san,” they heard softly, again. 

Both closed their eyes in discomfort; they knew that voice quite well. 

So both of them let go of each other hands and took a deep breath; Nanaka lifted her sight towards the cottage while Shuka turned around.

 

Arisa Komiya was standing in the porch of the cottage with her straight face, one hand in her stomach and a concerned Aina behind her.   
Both of them were with their respective PJs but with a jacket and their shoes on. 

 

“What the hell is Ainya doing here?” asked in whisper voice Shuka towards Nanaka

Nanaka blinked a few time, she wasn’t wearing her contacts or her glasses so she assumed that these two figures were Arisa and Aina. She recognized Arisa’s voice, her tall figure and her posture and Aina being so short it wasn’t difficult to recognize.

“She was awake... and saw us... _again_ ” whispered Nanaka walking slowly towards the porch

Shuka bit her lips and followed Nanaka. 

 

Nanaka stopped a few steps from the porch; it was a considerable distance for her to see their teammates, not clearly but better than before. 

Shuka stopped by her side with a nervous face. 

Nanaka kept her serious “Suwa face”, if Arisa was going to scold her she needed her best mask on her. 

 

_ Ok, I’m here, bring it on!  _

 

The four of them were silent. The tension grew like foam.  

 

All of them shared glances towards each other; Aina had her eyes swollen and a sad smile on her face, Arisa had her straight face; Nanaka couldn’t read that face as mad, sad or whatever, Arisa was always with that face, it was indeed scary. 

Shuka was nervous, she had a weird smile but also she felt embarrassed, and was shivering; being standing there without shoes and in her thin PJs was starting to taking her toll. 

Nanaka just blinked, her face was in her “Suwa mode” just waiting for someone to say something. 

 

Arisa cleared her throat 

“So I guess I’m the one doing the talking again Suwa-san?” said Arisa in a mocking tone 

Nanaka twitched one eyebrow. 

“You look like crap, is it your stomach feeling ok?” Retorted Nanaka in the same tone as Arisa’s

Arisa twitched her lips. 

 

Aina opened her big black eyes wide and looked at Nanaka in panic; Nanaka didn’t move an inch. 

If Arisa wanted to scold her, she will be ready and actually, she wasn’t afraid of her anymore. 

Shuka looked at Nanaka with concerned eyes. 

 

“Actually I’m not feeling alright...” 

Said finally Arisa seeing that Nanaka was not going to cooperate again. 

“But that aside, would you mind to explain to me what’s going on?” 

“No,” Nanaka said dryly and coldly 

 

Nanaka could felt Shuka and Aina swallowing hard and the tension grew once again; this time the intense gaze competition was between Arisa’s big scary eyes and Nanaka’s serious ones.

 

“Are you serious?” Arisa was losing her patience,” Are you going to deny again that you had something to do with Saito-san’s not going to the Spa with us last night?” 

“You what?!” Snapped Aina

Nanaka twitched her eyebrow once again and unconsciously moved forward covering Shuka behind her, sending the message to don’t mess with her. 

“Suwa-san...?” whispered Shuka behind her 

 

_ She is my responsibility... _

 

Nanaka didn’t say anything, she just stayed quiet; Arisa rose one eyebrow while Aina opened and closed her mouth like a fish. 

“Maybe you stayed behind with her doing ‘dirty stuff’ and that’s why none of you came to the Spa” 

Said Arisa in her diligent tone

 

_ I hate this woman... _

 

“You WHAT?!” said again Aina rising her tone 

“Oi! What’s wrong with you?” snapped Shuka from behind Nanaka’s back with some annoyance in her voice

“Suwawa what the hell?! I thought you have it clear to stop this nonsense!” Said Aina moving forward 

“You knew about this?” said Arisa looking at Aina

“Yes I did,” said softly Aina looking at Nanaka with her eyes watering

“How?!” snapped Shuka again, this time moving from behind Nanaka’s back 

“Because you two are so reckless and were making out everywhere! Control your hormones you rabbits!” 

“Hey! Watch it!” said Shuka annoyed

“Stop it! Both of you” said Arisa in her diligent way

Both girls stay quiet but clearly uneasy in their spot. 

 

Nanaka blinked a few times. 

This was a difficult situation; Aina and Shuka were like a time bomb, in any second Aina could explode in jealousy while Shuka could explode in pride. 

Nanaka and Arisa were the only ones who could civilize this situation. 

 

“Suwa-san...” started Arisa again, “can we make this thing simple? You know, I actually don’t care if you fucked her last night and that’s why none of you came to the Spa, it’s the fact you lied to me last night”

Aina made a drowned sound on Arisa’s statement.

“I had to.” said Nanaka in her “Suwa tone”

“Arisha what the hell are you saying?” interrupted Aina

 

Arisa just ignored her

“Why?” asked Arisa looking at Nanaka

“Why do you care? I didn’t want to go to the Spa with everybody, end of the story” 

“And Saito-san?” 

“She didn’t want to go without me” 

“Bullshit!” snapped Aina.

 

Shuka was about to say something, but Nanaka grabbed her arm stopping her. 

Shuka looked at her concerned, but Nanaka didn’t take her eyes away from Arisa. 

 

“I thought we made ourselves clear last night Suwa-san, I thought we were going to start trusting each other” 

Nanaka blinked 

 

_ She is not mad because we kissed, she is mad because I didn’t tell her?... _

 

“Why should I tell you this?, it’s my private life,” asked Nanaka dryly

“Well, Aina knows!” 

“Because she is everywhere!” snapped Shuka annoyed 

“I’m not everywhere! You two keep kissing right in front of me!” said Aina

 There was so much pain in that sentence, Nanaka clinched her fist. 

 

_ I’m sorry Aina... _

 

“Oh, So this isn’t the first time?” asked Arisa calmly

“The hell it is! they had been doing it for a while now” said annoyed Aina

“Suzuki-San!” scolded Nanaka

“My...” said softly Shuka looking at Nanaka 

Nanaka closed her eyes taking a deep breath and then looked at Shuka 

“You told her?” asked Shuka softly

“Shuka, she saw us on the first night...then she asked me... how I could deny something she saw and heard?”

Answered Nanaka softly towards Shuka; she just gave her a sad smile

“Ok...” interrupted Arisa making Nanaka and Shuka look at her again, “ can we be sincere then Suwa-san?

Nanaka looked at her with her “Suwa face” not saying anything. 

Aina had her serious face too, and that was weird 

 

Suddenly Nanaka felt her left hand being grabbed by Shuka and she quickly entwined her fingers with Nanaka’s 

“Sincerely Komiya-san, Suwa-san and I are trying to be something together”   
Said Shuka with confidence and clear voice, this statement made Nanaka look at her in awe, Aina opened her eyes and mouth wide and Arisa rose her eyebrows. 

“We are a thing, and if you want explanations I can give them to you, because...” Shuka looked at Nanaka with loving eyes, “... we are in this together, so stop taking it against Suwawa, I’m here too” 

Shuka finished looking at Arisa with a serious face and tightening her grip on their entwined hand. 

“Shuka...” whispered Nanaka with concern

“Suwawa I told you I’m not a kid anymore, stop trying to protect me...” she whispered back 

 

But seems that Arisa didn’t see Shuka as an adult, so she ignored her too. 

Arisa focused on Nanaka once again.

 

“Actually, I can’t care less if you are fucking Saito-san right now,” said Arisa in her diligent tone,” what bothers me is that you do it there, while all of us were sleeping...and the fact that you couldn’t trust me yesterday, but it’s ok, you were protecting Saito-san too...”

“WHAT?!” snapped again Aina in total discomfort tone 

“Arisha you are ok with this?!” said Aina agitated 

 

Arisa looked at her with her big eyes and shrugged 

Nanaka could felt Shuka’s hand tightening again against hers; clearly, Shuka was angry at Aina. 

“Calm down...” Nanaka whispered to Shuka

“I... I can’t believe this!” said Aina again towards Arisa

“Why are you so against it Suzuki-San?” asked Arisa calmly 

“Why?....WHY?!” She said raising her tone, then her sight traveled from Arisa to the couple

 

“Suwawa we already talked about this! You should keep this down and in the dark!; I can’t believe you are throwing your career away because you are horny,”

“Suzuk—“ tried Arisa

“Hey—“ tried Shuka but was stopped by Nanaka’s grip in her hand. 

Nanaka didn’t say anything, she just blinked. 

Aina continued her rant like a machine gun.

“You should know better! This is going to cost you your position in the project! You signed a contract for God’s sake! You can’t date anyone and less with one of the members! And with her for all of them!”

“Suzuki-san, calm down” tried Arisa, but Aina was out of her mind

“You are going to ruin Aqours! Your characters don’t have anything in common! And it’s a matter of time for the two of you to be separated!”

Aina kept the rant; she started to say some painful things that Nanaka couldn’t get at all, Aina was stomping her own words and ideas.

 

Shuka tightened her grip on her hand, now it was a bit painful for Nanaka to held Shuka in her spot

“Now I know where you got your speech from last night... “ said softly Shuka looking at Nanaka with a bit of bitterness, Nanaka tried to play cool, but she felt terrible and pouted about it. 

“Ok that’s enough!” said Arisa rising her tone making Aina stop her rant. 

 

Aina’s cheeks were red, her breathing was quite elaborate too

Shuka let go Nanaka’s hand and step a few steps forward

 

“If it bothers you this much, why the hell you changed futons with me?!” asked Shuka with clear anger

“What?” said softly Arisa looking at Aina

“You knew Suwawa was having a bad day and changed futons with me; you told me she would need a hug... you wanted us to be exposed!” 

 

_ WUT?!  _

 

Nanaka looked astonished at Shuka; that was a huge statement. Arisa opened her mouth in awe too looking at Aina. 

Aina’s eyes widen while she tightens her lips. She was being consumed by anger. 

 

Was all this a trap? Was this part of a jealousy plan to teach them a lesson?

Nanaka blinked furiously trying to move the gears of her mind. 

 

Was Aina this twisted?!

Changing futons with Shuka, telling her to hug Nanaka while she was fragile, exposing her demure & bulletproof image to Shuka, taking advantage of Shuka’s reckless and finally to be busted by no one else than Arisa Komiya. 

The only Aqours member strictly enough to end whatever nonsense this two were having. 

A good lesson for both of them to learn to don’t mess around with the members. 

But what Aina didn’t consider was that actually, Arisa Komiya didn’t give a damn about it. 

 

_ That’s fucking twisted... _

 

Nanaka looked at Aina with sad eyes. 

Aina was supposed to be her friend, she trusted her, she said she wanted to be her ally in this madness, yet again she wanted to expose her for the second time. 

 

“Did you?” asked Arisa softly to Aina, “ did you want to expose them?”

“I think they exposed themselves on their own,” said Aina with bitterness 

“Why you changed futons with Saito-san if you are not ok with this?”

“I care about Suwawa,” said Aina with a knot in her throat, “ I care more than this child” 

Aina’s tone was dry and serious; Arisa’s eyes wide once again and faster she looked at Shuka in panic

 

“That’s it! I’m done!” said Shuka angry moving towards the porch

“Hey Hey!” Nanaka grabbed Shuka by her right arm, but Shuka was stronger so she started to drag Nanaka with her

“I had enough! I’m not a kid to be treated like this!”

“Then you should stop acting like one!” said Aina angry too and moving towards Shuka 

“Hey! stop it!” said Arisa quickly hugging Aina from behind to stop her steps

Nanaka used all her strength to stop Shuka to continue walking; she imitated Arisa and hugged Shuka from behind too

“Enough Shuka,” said Nanaka while she was struggling with Shuka’s body 

“She said she care?! Well, I care the most! If I didn’t tell you she was having a bad day you would keep fooling around with Anchan!”

“Suzuki-san stop it!” tried Arisa who was struggling with Aina’s body

“Because you are a kid! You can’t see anyone besides yourself! Where were you when Suwa was down or in trouble? Ah?! Where?!” 

 

Shuka stopped her struggle and looked at Aina with sad eyes; Nanaka tightened her hug and looked at Aina with same sad eyes. Aina was hurting Shuka with her words, and as a matter of fact, she was hurting Nanaka too.

“Enough!” repeated Arisa keeping Aina’s body in its place

“It’s not my fault you were so horny which make you act so reckless and ended up kissing there in the middle of the room and got caught! Your foolishness will destroy this group!”

 

“AINA ENOUGH!” Shouted Nanaka angry.

 

It seems that the world stopped too. 

The sun was finally over their heads, the birds were already singing, and the warm temperature was rising. 

 

Arisa and Aina had a petrified awe look. 

They were astonished looking at Nanaka, with their big eyes in shock. 

Since the project started they had never heard Nanaka rise her voice and less shout with such energy and anger. 

Few seconds, maybe minutes had passed before someone started talking again. 

 

“I think it’s enough of this,” said Nanaka with her angry tone but she kept hugging Shuka

“Komiya-san, I’m sorry for disturbing you with our reckless behavior, you are right, it wasn’t appropriate, we will not do it again” 

Nanaka shook Shuka’s body telling her that she needed to apologize too

“I’m sorry too Komiya-san...” said softly Shuka

Then both of them bowed. 

 

Arisa left Aina and did a small bow to accept the apology. 

Aina stayed there with a sad face

“Suzuki-San...” called Arisa 

Aina was with her eyes glued to the floor; she was clenching her fists and with her lips tightened, she slowly lifted her chin, her big black eyes full of tears

“I... I...I wanted the best for her; if It had been me the one who snuggled inside the futon it would have given her trouble with Shukashuu...and because I knew what was going on between them, I thought Suwa would be happy if she was held by someone she cares... that’s why I changed futons...” 

Said Aina softly and with sadness. 

 

_ Ainya...I care about you too... _

 

“…I…I recommended Shuka to hug her….not to make out with her…” said Aina with discomfort

Nanaka had a knot in her throat, she couldn’t deny this went too far. 

She was about to say something, but the front door of the cottage opened abruptly making the four girls jump in their spot

 

“What the hell is going on here?!” said the Lead teacher with clear annoyance in her voice

“You guys sure are loud every moment of the day!” 

 

Nanaka tried to act cool, but the fact that she was still hugging Shuka from behind didn’t help her much. 

Shuka shrugged in her spot, Aina turned around to hide her watery sad face, while Arisa had to take the lead. 

 

“I’m not feeling good Sensei; so I came to have fresh air,” said Arisa with a painful tone 

“Oh, that’s true?, Komiya-san maybe you should skip the jogging...” said the lead teacher concerned 

“Maybe it’s for the better... seems that inside this camp it’s something rotten...” said Arisa giving a killer glance towards Aina, then she turned again to the lead teacher, “ if you don’t mind, I would like to stay and record my mix of the song while the rest is jogging...” 

The Lead teacher lifted one eyebrow 

“Well, I agree, I can’t let you be jogging around if you are not feeling well....”   
Said the Lead teacher, then she moved her sight to the other members and hummed 

“...ok, whatever you were doing, stop doing it; all of you need to be ready in 30! We will have some P.E session and a quick review of the choreography before going to Yamanaka Lake so be ready!” 

Nanaka and Shuka nodded, Aina was still looking to the other side nervously.

 

The Lead teacher turned around and entered the cottage, but before she closes the door she turned and said; 

“I knew ‘Kanan-san’ had guts!” 

And she closed the door. 

 

Nanaka blinked furiously about it, while Shuka snorted

“Was that because of your shout?” asked Shuka sweetly 

“Maybe...” said Nanaka in a monotone 

“Suwawa you are still hugging me...” said Shuka softly

Nanaka rose her eyebrows in surprise; she gasped and tried to move apart but Shuka stopped her

“Don’t, “ She said with a coy smile, “ it feels nice...”

Nanaka smiled sweetly and tightened the embrace; being taller than Shuka sure had its advantages, she snuggled in the crook of her neck. 

 

“So, are you sure you are ok with this?” asked Aina with a serious tone towards Arisa 

“They look cute, don’t you think?” smiled Arisa

Arisa and Aina were still on the porch of the cottage looking down at this two lovebirds being sweet in Nanaka’s embrace

“No, they don’t,” said Aina with bitterness but keeping her tone, “ now you see how reckless they are; they exposed themselves to the lead teacher, and they didn’t care...”

“Because you are not being open mind...” said Arisa with an amused tone, “ Oi! You two!”  
Called Arisa; Nanaka stopped her cheek rub with Shuka to look at Aina and Arisa

 

“Suwa-san, Saito-san, I think you have some decisions to make” 

Arisa’s tone was diligent as always; Aina looked at her with concern 

“What Suzuki-san said it’s true, and I understand...she is not far from the truth...”

“Am I?” asked amuse Aina

“Aqours is a group of eighteen girls, what we do define the other nine girls and vise versa, keep that in mind, this can affect this thing you are having, and remember that you are not alone in the group, your decisions may affect the other seven members...” Arisa made a pause to look at Aina

 

_ This decision is affecting Aina right now... _

 

Nanaka tightened her embrace with Shuka; she answered by touching Nanaka’s arms around her.

“As for me, I don’t care what you two do, unless you try to do it like this morning right in front of my nose... and I believe no other member will be against it...well, everybody except Suzuki-san,” Aina snorted, “ she has her reasons, I understand... but I consider that her option of hiding the truth from everybody it’s not the way” 

“Eh!? What do you mean Arisha?” Asked Aina surprised

“You saw right now; the lead teacher already saw this two hugging so lovely...” 

“Oh crap!” snapped Shuka just realizing that  
 Nanaka bit her lips

 

_ We are so reckless...we are so doom... _

 

“I think is gonna be useless If they keep trying to hide this thing, at the end they will be caught anyway, and I think it’s better for all the members to know about this.” 

“What?! What good that will make?” asked Aina with annoyance 

“A sense of unity...at least all the members will know the truth, and can help this two to be...less reckless...” 

“If the staff found out they will be kicked out!” said Aina

“I never said to tell the staff, I said the members...and well, Suwa-san is the key...”

“Me? Why?” asked Nanaka softly 

“Why do you think the Lead teacher didn’t say anything about you two being hugging so lovely gay right now...?” 

 

The three girls remained silent; yes, it was odd for the teacher to don’t say a thing about it. 

“Why?” asked Shuka sweetly

“Because she is the ‘hugging and caring’ ‘Kanan-san’; she is meant to be like that” 

Everybody opened her eyes wide. 

Arisa smiled smugly and proudly. 

 

“So, you can try to hide the truth from everyone and try to live your love story in the shadows as Aina recommended...but how good has been so far? Or you open up to the members, tell the truth and live your love story at least supported by friends...” 

 

Nanaka frowned in deep thought. 

If Arisa was right, she could be this lovely with Shuka anytime she wants because of her character, Kanan was meant to be a caring and hugging person towards her friends and team members; if all the members know the truth it’s going to be easy for her to be “this friendly” and she could avoid “weird looks”. 

If they keep trying to hide this, even if she acts like Kanan does, she will gain those “weird looks” because the members are not going to understand why Nanaka and Shuka are so close and lovely when they are not on camera or the such, and they might get caught anyway...

And seeing that Arisa actually was more affected by the fact that they were lying and hiding this thing to her than the thing itself. 

Kanan’s and Nanaka’s gayness were so handful right now...

 

_ Thanks, Kanan... _

 

“I can’t agree with you,” said Aina in her annoyed tone

But before she could explain herself, Shuka broke free from Nanaka’s embrace and stepped forward 

“Well, this isn’t your relationship to agree with,” said Shuka serious 

Nanaka closed her eyes with a bitter expression 

 

_ My, Shuka... _

 

“Saito-san...” tried Arisa, but Shuka had enough 

“This thing is between Suwa-san and me, WE are the ones who decide what to do, so please Suzuki-san mind your own business!” 

Aina opened her eyes wide in anger once again, seems that they were trying to keep fighting; Aina took a deep breath 

 

“I can’t let Suwawa date this brat!” said Aina outraged looking at Arisa

Arisa opened her eyes wide in panic 

“Are you sure you are ok with this? This is going to be a—“tried Aina

“Who are you calling a brat you Smurf!” Interrupted Shuka all annoyed once again

Aina’s face was hard to described, but not as hard as Arisa’s; seems that both of them were shocked about Shuka’s rant. 

Aina was short, it was her charm point, being short was what makes her cute... but being called smurf...was something else...

Nanaka facepalmed, it seems that both of them were little kids fighting for a toy

 

“You! You are a brat! You are a spoiled little brat! You don’t care about her! You had never been there for her!” 

“Suzuki–san for the love of God, end this already!” said Arisa now mad

She grabbed Aina from her shoulders and started dragging her towards the cottage door

Aina started mumbling some words that no one could understand while Arisa opened the cottage door and pushed Aina inside 

“You are older than her, be an example and behave like an adult!” said finally Arisa closing the door.

 

They heard that she cursed a few times on the other side of the door, then the sound was replaced by Aqours typical noises; seems that everybody was awake getting ready for the jog.

 

Arisa turned around to face Shuka and Nanaka; then she opened her eyes wide and made a bitter expression. 

If something defines Arisa, that would be her facial expressions. 

“Oh, my, Saito-san, I’m sorry...” she said with a sad tone

 

Nanaka rose her eyebrows in panic and moved forward to see Shuka; she grabbed Shuka’s shoulders to turn her around and face her.

 

Shuka had her eyes full of tears, she was pouting so hard to resist the urge of crying 

“My, Shukashuu....what... Don’t....don’t cry...” tried Nanaka with a gentle voice, but Shuka couldn’t take it and started crying 

Nanaka hugged her tightly, softly rubbing her back

“It’s ok sweetie...shh shh,” said Nanaka with her sweet tone

While rubbing softly Shuka’s back, she looked at Arisa with a sad face; Arisa had her scary face, as usual, she was looking at this with no particular interest.

They locked gazes and Arisa moved her lips clearly saying 

“She is a kid”. 

 

Nanaka frowned in discomfort.

Maybe Arisa and Aina were right; Shuka might be a kid...

 

_But it’s  my kid._

 

Suddenly Shuka sneezed, making her stop crying for a bit. 

“Shuka-chan, I think you should go inside, you will catch a cold...” said Nanaka separating a bit from her

“You rushed out without even your shoes...”

Shuka nodded and started to make some little hiccups 

“I’m...I’m..hic! Sowy Suwa-san...hic!..I’m sorry I hadn’t been for you..hic! I’m...so helpless...hic! I’m just a child...”

“Shhhh~ stop it Shukashuu...” said softly Nanaka and tried to dry Shuka’s tears away with her thumbs 

“I’m...hic! Sowy...” 

“Don’t be... now go, get inside and get ready, or you surely will catch a cold...” said Nanaka lovely

 

Shuka nodded, then she dried her tears away, and started walking to the porch.

But suddenly she stopped and looked back at Nanaka 

“I think...hic!...I might skip...hic!...P.E session...I don’t feel like doing it…or at least…hic! I may come a bit later...” said Shuka sobbing and drying her last tears

Nanaka gave her a weak smile and nodded. 

Maybe she can’t stand being with Aina so soon, being mad at each other surely will affect the performance, or she caught a cold and now feels bad?

Shuka kept walking till reaching the cottage door. 

 

“Please behave like a true adult from now on,” said Arisa while Shuka was walking beside her; she stopped at her side and shared some looks.

Arisa was with her usual face while Shuka sobbed a few times in total annoyance 

“And please stop fighting with Suzuki-San, don’t make it worse.” 

Shuka didn’t say a thing, Arisa was indeed scary, so Shuka just opened the door and got inside the cottage. 

 

_ Thank God she isn’t our leader... _

 

Nanaka started walking towards the cottage, she needed to get ready for the jog and P.E session too. 

 

So maybe this didn’t end that bad, wasn’t it? 

Arisa was fine with them in this thing they were starting; Shuka got a small scold, but basically because she was still a kid. But Aina was bitter as hell. 

Ok, that wasn’t quite good. 

 

“You know, for being a nonenergetic person, straightforward and lacking a ‘nice body’, you got something,” said Arisa with a smug smile and tone 

“Eh? What do you mean?” asked Nanaka in her normal tone 

“What? You didn’t see it or what? You have two girls fighting for you”

“I feel like there are two kids fighting for a toy...” 

Arisa giggled and then she did a painful grin while grabbing her stomach 

 

“You look terrible,” said Nanaka with her monotone 

“I wasn’t lying about feeling bad and having a stomachache, and this little show made it worse...”

“I’m sorry” apologized Nanaka in her “Suwa tone” 

“Don’t be...”

Nanaka kept walking to the entrance when Arisa interrupted her pace

 

“Suwa-san are you sure you wanna date Saito-san?” there was a real concern in her voice

“I thought you were ok...” said Nanaka looking at her seriously

“And I’m ok...I don’t care who you are sleeping with, but Suzuki-San had a point about dating other members...Suwa-san, she is a kid.” 

“We all are,” said Nanaka dryly 

“What’s gonna happen if you ended up in different subunits? The distance between both of you will be unbearable...or imagine you ended up with Suzuki-San and not with Saito-san...”

Nanaka hummed, while opening the cottage’s door. 

 

Yes, she has thought about it. 

And now was crystal clear that Aina was beyond bitterness and jealousy about her thing with Shuka. 

Even if Shuka was a kid, she was smart enough and can figure it out that Aina had feelings for Nanaka, so yeah, if Nanaka ended up in the same subunit with Aina, Shuka will explode in anger and jealousy.

 

Nanaka looked at Arisa with her serious “Suwa face”

“The only thing I care about subunits right now is not being in the same unit as you.” 

Arisa opened her big scary eyes wide in surprise, while Nanaka closed the door behind her. 

 

She can’t be sorry about that, because it was the truth. 

She knew Aina enough to know that her anger will ease in a few hours, so she doesn’t care if she ended up in the same subunit as her; in fact, she gladly is willing too. 

The same thing with Shuka; being in the same unit is the only thing she wanted the most. 

But the only thing she was clear, is that she can’t be in the same unit with Arisa, that will be the end of Kanan. 

If she ended up separate from Aina and Shuka, maybe that is for the best. 

Shuka has to deal with Aina being in the “third years” group anyway. 

 

She closed her eyes, thinking that she was in a difficult position between these two. 

And couldn’t help to think that all of this was her fault. 

 

 

 

 

 

But there’s no much she can do right now. 

The jog started a few minutes ago, and she clearly could feel the tension around them. 

This time Arisa wasn’t around to stop Aina if she starts yelling at Shuka again, and she can’t trust in her own strength and stamina to hold Shuka right now, basically because Shuka was the fastest among them meaning she was in the front of the line with the lead teacher and the Chief of staff jogging. 

 

Few blocks away Anchan had to stop and turned back to the minivan because her ankle did bother her more than what she thought.

So at the end only 7 of them kept jogging; Shuka seemed in her own world jogging in the front still with her cap in the middle of her face, followed by an indifferent Aina, next was Nanaka trying her best...but slow, and in the back of the line “first years” and Rikako, those were slower than Nanaka because “First years” were noisy and they kept chitchatting and making the fool of themselves while Rikako was just slow. 

 

Nanaka tried to increase her speed in order to catch Aina, it wasn’t an easy task, but not impossible, Aina wasn’t that fast anyways...

 

“Aina...Aina...” panted Nanaka trying to catch her “...Suzuki-san...”

Said Nanaka in a final pant jogging at Aina’s side

 

“Just go away Suwawa,” said annoyed Aina grabbing her purple towel, which was around her neck 

“I can’t, I’m.... jogging...” said Nanaka out of breath 

Aina just looked at her and deadpanned, then she returned her sight to her front 

 

“Then shut up!” said Aina in an annoyance 

“Why...are...you so ....mad...?” asked Nanaka trying to don’t faint while jogging 

“Because you are a fool, a dork, a horny stupi— “

“I get it” cut out Nanaka

 

_ My, she is SO jealous... _

 

“Then go away.....” said Aina again, now with a bit of difficulty   
“Go...and jog with your girlfriend...” Aina finished 

 

Nanaka kept her jogging pace, she blinked a few times; Shuka was almost a block away from them 

 

“First... she is not my....girlfriend...” Nanaka said out of breath, “ second... I can’t keep...with her... she...is..so...damm...fast!”

“Suwawa just...shut up,... you might faint...if you keep talking...” said Aina panting too

“Then...then...slow down a ... bit...” said Nanaka trying to slow her jog

 

Aina made a discomforting buff and slowed down her pace too

“Sometimes I hate you...” said Aina with bitterness, Nanaka gave her a sad smile

“I’m still wondering...why...” said Nanaka softly

“You know why! My, Suwawa you are completely out of your mind!” said Aina with annoyance 

“You know you are bitter because Komiya-san didn’t support you...” added Nanaka with her “Suwa tone”

 

Aina bit her lips and then she laughed like an old man; Nanaka couldn’t help but smile too, she preferred this Aina, the one who laughs at everything and it’s weird than the gloomy, quiet and bitter one. 

 

“I should say that Arisha did surprise me... I thought she was going to scold you really hard...”  
Said Aina recovering her good mood 

“I was surprised too... we talked last night, she is not a bad person...”

“Oh you did... then?” 

“The producer talked to her...she knows now that I’m a failure...” said Nanaka with a sad tone

“Suwawa don’t say such thing...” said Aina looking sadly at Nanaka

“Yeah... well she was nice...gave me some advice and such...”

“Advice about what?”

“How to get along with ‘Kanan’....” said Nanaka annoyed 

“You don’t sound convincing at all...” said Aina amused 

“I’m having a hard time... trying to figured it out ...some similarities with her...”

“Well, besides the ponytail...”

“Exactly! There must be something else that we can relate.... besides the ponytail, there should be something else that this energetic muscular love of the sea nerd has in common with me...”

 

Aina laughed like an old man

“My, Suwawa you can’t treat her like that” Aina said still laughing 

“What? It’s the truth, no wonder if production made a song of ‘Kanan’ singing to the fishes...”

“Like a little mermaid...” said Aina amused, then she added, “Well, what did Arisha say about it?”

“To screw with what production designed, and do my own ‘Kanan’....”

“Ow, well, sounded like you two had a fruitful conversation ...”

“Yeah, we understood each other...”

“And then she caught you kissing Shuka...” said Aina giggling 

“Yes...she did...we are so reckless...” Nanaka kept her “Suwa tone”

“So, What are you gonna do? Tell the members?” asked Aina with a low tone

 

They stopped the jogging to wait for the traffic light to turn green. They kept moving in place to don’t cool down. 

They saw the Chief of staff, the lead teacher and Shuka slowing down and looking back at them. 

Nanaka could swear that she saw Shuka cursing.

They started to hear “first years” and Rikako jogging behind them, so Nanaka kept quiet about their conversation.

 

When the light turned green, Aikyan was the first to speed up to catch up with Shuka, she screamed back something that they were being to slow.

So, the five members left kept jogging in their relaxed pace.

 

The lead teacher and the Chief of staff used this opportunity to wait for the slow part of the team and started jogging behind King, Rikako, and Aiai. 

 

A few minutes later and Aina tried again. 

“So...what are you gonna do?” 

Nanaka hummed

“Well, I don’t know...it’s, not my decision alone to make...”

“I see...you haven’t talked to Shuka since this morning....?”

“No, when? Everything had been so hectic...and everything was around coming to ....jogging! I’m tired...” said annoyed Nanaka, indeed it had been enough for her this jogging activity.

“Well I don’t think you can talk to her soon...” said Aina with a sad tone

“Why?”

“She is next to record when we get back... besides, it’s something you need to figure out the two of you...and here there are so many people...”

 

Nanaka frowned 

There was something bothering her about this whole talking while jogging 

“Aina...” she called softly

 

Aina looked at her with the corner of her eyes

“Yes...?”

“Why do you care?... why are you listening to me now but later you will be mad anyways..?...you told me you wanted to be my ally in this madness, but this morning was the opposite...”

Aina kept silence.

 

She couldn’t say anything because Shuka and Aikyan slowed their pace and the distance between the two of them with Aina and Nanaka was no more than 50 cm.

Close enough were Rikako and Aiai, it seemed that King was lost in her slowness with the teacher and the Chief of staff. 

 

So the rest of the jogging was in deep silence. 

They returned to the sidewalk around the lake; they only made some kind of sounds when they spotted the cameraman waiting for them in the sidewalk taking some footage, and vividly they say “hi” to the camera...well, everybody except for Shuka and Nanaka....and a tired King at the end of the line, she was walking at this point anyway. 

 

 

The jogging soon was over, and they returned to the minivan. 

They were greeted by a gloomy Anchan and the other dance teacher; Anchan was even pouting because she wasn’t able to join them in the activity, Aiai made fun of her telling her that, she being the leader should be the first one out there jogging, but Shuka made an incredible intervention telling her to shut up, all this was Aina’s fault because she kept falling over Anchan’s ankle because she couldn’t make a simple leapfrog. 

 

Nanaka facepalmed really hard. 

Aina didn’t say a thing, but the mood inside the minivan was worse than the mood of the jog. 

Maybe in Aina’s head the voice of Arisa telling her that she was older so she should behave better than Shuka stopped her to make a scene inside the vehicle and with all the members there. 

 

_ What am I suppose to do with Shuka behaving this way…  _

 

 

Once they arrived at Sound Village again, they were greeted by Arisa, she indeed looked better. 

But there wasn't time to take a break; Shuka ran towards the recording studio while the rest of the members ran to the dance studio, they needed to keep practicing.

 

"What a jewel you've got…” said Aina bitterly to Nanaka once they reached the studio

Nanaka gave her a sad smile and then she left her bottle of water on the floor. 

“Thank you for not making a scene…” said Nanaka softly

“I’m not doing this for you…” said Aina taking her towel out of her neck, “I’m doing it for Aqours…and answering your earlier question; that’s why I care… because I care about Aqours and all the damage you might make...”

Nanaka blinked a few times

 

Was Aqours that important for Aina?… for them?

 

Nanaka looked around the studio; Arisa was talking vividly with Rikako and Anchan, while “first years” of course were doing noise. 

She sighed softly.

 

It supposed that Aina was worried about how Nanaka's and Shuka’s relationship might affect the members and how that can destroy Aqours. In fact, the only one affected right now was her… but Nanaka understood Aina’s point. She wanted to protect Aqours of a future “civil war”.

 

She recalled Arisa speaking about her concerns about Anchan doubting about her leadership skills, and how she was worried about not fitting, and "third years” not bonding. 

Well, now they have something in common and that’s her gayness towards Shuka, and bitter Aina being against it. 

But indeed, she was worried about Aqours too. 

 

Anchan, of course, was worried about it too. 

Not feeling like the leader she should be, to stick this bunch of kids together and make the nine of them as one. She was feeling like she wasn’t up for that task.

So she was worried to left Aqours without a “captain”.  

 

But her?

Nanaka couldn’t see Aqours being  _that_  important. 

This was a job, like any other job. 

These people are coworkers, not friends, so what’s the big deal making all this fuss about? 

You can fell in love with your coworkers, it happens in every job all the time, why treat Aqours like something different? something fragile…

 

Nanaka took her position in the choreography. It was a circle in the middle of the room.

She clearly saw the empty spot of Shuka on it, it felt wrong. 

Something was missing, Shuka was missing, of course, she was out recording, but the circle didn’t feel complete, and it seemed that everybody noticed that because everybody had a sad face. 

Did it feel wrong when she was out as well?

 

“Ok, let's do this thing!” said Anchan with energy

Everybody said a loud “Yes!”. 

And then the practice began. 

 

.

 

.

 

If Nanaka could decide which of the 3 days was the most productive she might choose this one. 

She was really focused on training and the dance practice, maybe because today she didn’t have to go out to record or making some emotional talking with anybody. 

Just normal talk about dances and movements.

 

After lunch was Aikyan’s time to record, again, the dance practice, looked a bit weird without her there. 

But they pulled it off anyway. 

 

When Aikyan came back, the dance teachers gave them some time break, it seemed that they needed to discuss some issues with the Staff. 

The girls took this moment to take some fresh air, change their outfits or to review some steps of the choreography. 

 

Nanaka being Nanaka, she just needed quiet and a bit of air. 

So she went out of the studio cottage and sat on the porch, her gaze lost somewhere else in the distance. 

 

She felt tired, just how many times they have to repeat this single choreography? And this is just one song! Nanaka thought about when the rehearsals for the event starts, or even worse; the rehearsals for their first Live. 

She felt her soul leaving her body just to think about it. 

 

Suddenly she felt a singular laughter that took her out of her thoughts; Aiai was coming out of the cottage with her singularity squeaky laughter but stopped dryly when she saw Nanaka sitting there. 

 

Aiai being Aiai didn’t think that much and sat beside her, she had her towel on her head, indeed was a funny picture; Nanaka gave her a goofy smile, Furihata Ai was certainly the mascot of the group.

 

“There are times like these...” Aiai said in her squeaky tone

Nanaka snorted and smiled at her; she hummed

 

“You know, you are quite a mystery Suwa Nanaka...” said Aiai with a normal tone

“Eh?! There’s no such thing...” said Nanaka with her “Suwa tone”

“Yes you are, you are so quiet... so demure...you don’t talk!”

“I talk,” said Nanaka dryly

“Only if it’s Shuka, Anchan or Ainya...”

“That’s nonsense...”

“Are you happy here?” asked Aiai with concern

“In the camp?”

“No, no, in the project, in Aqours, this camp is just another activity of the project” 

“…yes…?”

 

_ Actually, I don’t know... lately being in this project and in this group is just being problematic... _

 

Aiai broke into her squeaky laugh

“My, Suwawa you can’t convince a bunch of true believers with that answer!” said Aiai with her squeaky tone again, Nanaka deadpanned her

“See? Do you laugh?”

“I laugh...” said Nanaka in her monotone

“Mentally maybe,” said Aiai with giggles

“Well, I’m different...”

“Different are Arisha and Rikyako... you are just.... a mystery...”

“Why are they different and I’m just weird?” said Nanaka a bit annoyed now

“I never said weird...” Aiai giggled, “Suwawa, at least Arisha is trying, she talks, she gave her opinions, at least she made funny faces; Rikyako is so clumsy that is even funny to bully her....but you?”

“Me?”

“If we bully you, you don’t care, you don’t seem affected by anything; Are you perfect or what?”

Nanaka opened her eyes wide like two fried eggs

 

 _ PERFECT?!!   
_ _ Wooooooo~ _

 

“Eh?! ....what the hell?”

“Oh oh a reaction!” squeaked Aiai

“Furihata-San you are the weird now...”

“Yes I know...I’m the mascot in this group...” said Aiai with a happy grin 

“And you are ok with that?” said Nanaka in her monotone again

 

_ My, it’s like Ainya telling me that she was the weird Oijisan... so proud of that... _

 

“Of course, that’s my role, do you know which one is yours?”

Asked Aiai with her happy tone and a happy grin 

 

Nanaka got into a deep thought and hummed

 

_ I’m the gay one…or the failure one... _

 

“I think I’m not sure...”

“You are the quiet one.” Aiai sentenced

Nanaka blinked a few time

 

 __Yes.  
Why didn’t I think about that?  
So ... what benefit could it give to the group, being a quiet person? Who benefits from that? … that’s not a role...

 

“See? Silence again...” said Aiai again 

Nanaka looked at her and shrugged 

“How is ....'this’”, said Aiai moving her finger around Nanaka, “ helping you to bring ‘Kanan-san’ to life...? Or to fit into this group?”

 

_ Kanan again...fit into this group, why? _

 

“Well, it can’t be helped Furihata-San, I’m like this, and ‘Kanan’ might ended up being quieter too, but I don’t get that, I’m a real person, ‘Kanan’ it’s a fictional character...”

“I see...” said Aiai with another of her weird voices 

“You see what?”

 

Aiai took the towel off of her head and placed it around her neck. 

She looked like in deep thought. Then she took a deep breath.

 

“I got the feeling Suwawa, that you are doing this because it’s a job... it’s something you have to do, ‘Kanan-san’ it’s another character of your list, another step in your career... and I get it..” 

She made a pause to see if Nanaka had a reaction, but she guessed right, Nanaka just looked at her with attention, but with her “Suwa face”. 

 

“I think this isn’t just a job... you see, for me this is more than just a huge opportunity to impulse my career, this is my first time as a Seiyuu, just like Shuka or Aina, or like the most of us, so I’m taking it really seriously, even if I’m joking and fooling around and it doesn’t seem like that...” she ended giggling 

Nanaka rose one eyebrow. 

 

If someone wasn’t serious in this group that was Aiai. She was the mastermind behind all the “First years” noise and stupidity. 

 

“But what I understand is that Love Live! Is not like any other job, this project is something huge, and it jumps out of the screen, and I’m not alone doing this...”

“Yes, we are nine...” tried Nanaka to get to the point

“No, we are eighteen...”

Nanaka blinked

“I’m with ‘Ruby-chan’ walking this path...I know I don’t look anything like her, I just have her height; she is a sweet and shy child, and I’m the weird mascot of the group, the one who everybody is imitating and mocking, the one who is making up nicknames and phrases... I can’t see ‘Ruby-chan’ doing such things inside the characters, but I do! And I like!”

“Why do you do it then? It’s not in your character...”

“Because that’s how I am, and that’s what I want to give to this group; I believe in Aqours and... because that Is my role within it, I like being with King and Aikyan and doing foolish things with them, it’s fun, they are so fun; for me, I don’t feel like I’m working at all, I’m having a good time doing what I like and want! But you don’t seem to be enjoying this...”

 

_ It’s not worthy unless you enjoy the ride...Aina said that... _

 

Nanaka hummed

“Maybe you are quiet and demure, I get it, Arisha is serious, Rikako is shy, but they are trying to fit, you seem that you are in your own world...” said Aiai with a teasing tone

 

Nanaka looked at her feet in shame, maybe Aiai was right, maybe she was so focused in her conflicts with Kanan, her rivalry with Arisa, her feelings for Shuka and now Aina mixed in this mess, that she lost her north in this. 

 

“Do you really believe in Aqours?” asked Nanaka

“Of course! Why do you think I mock Anchan so bad? I really think she needs to be our leader, but she is so insecure! And I believe that Aqours is not going to take shape unless Anchan assumes as the leader and you start trying to fit in, Aqours is an eighteen-member group, and right now, not all of them are running to the same goal...”

Nanaka bit her lips and frowned 

 

Of course, Kanan is not running with her friends, because Nanaka can’t run with her. She doesn’t know how to portray her yet, how should act, so of course, Kanan can’t run. 

While Nanaka being focused in other things besides her real job, can’t run with the rest of the members, because she doesn’t believe in the same goal, or at least she doesn’t give the same interest as them. 

So there are two members of this eighteen group that aren’t running at all. 

And the group can’t work if there are members missing....it feels wrong. 

 

Nanaka rose her eyebrows and opened her eyes wide. 

 

_That’s why when one of us is out to record it felt wrong, the group it’s incomplete on a whole different level beyond the obvious._  

 

That meant that everybody was starting to feel this as a real group. 

Even the song they were recording sings about that. 

 

Nanaka felt dizzy. 

She closed her eyes and massaged her temples.

How could she not see this? 

 

“The goal...” said Nanaka softly, “what’s the goal?” 

Nanaka looked at Aiai with her sad face; somehow she felt lost, without a north or a guidance anymore, where should they be running? 

Aiai opened her eyes wide in disbelief 

“Suwa-san, why are you here?...”

 

_ Honestly, I don’t know anymore... _

 

“To portray ‘Kanan’...” said Nanaka softly and with doubt 

“Ok... but why? Why ‘Kanan-san’? Why Love Live!? I thought you knew the thing you signed up too...”  
Said Aiai with still her serious voice. 

 

Nanaka didn’t know what was weirder; if signing up for a job that she didn’t know or that Aiai was being this serious.   
Maybe the second, after all, she knew she signed for this because she was desperate to change herself. 

 

“I...kinda knew what was Love Live!, I think, we all know...we are fans of μ’s…but I don’t know why are all of you making such fuss about it?” ended Nanaka with more confident

“All of us...? What do you mean?” asked Aiai with a squeaky tone again

“It’s like all of you were worried about Aqours, like if it’s a thing of its own; it's just a name, it’s just a group of a bunch of girls playing to be idols; we are Seiyuus, we are here to be the voices of the characters, the goal must be to fulfil the production expectations, do Lives, sell merch, and later be replaced by a new group of young girls who will follow what μ’s and us did...” 

Nanaka ended her statement with her serious and dry tone, Aiai looked at her with her eyes widen like two fried eggs. 

 

“Wow...” said Aiai slowly

“You wanted me to talk? To give my opinion? Well...that’s it!” Said Nanaka standing up and looking down at Aiai who stayed looking astonished at Nanaka

“Maybe I can’t make funny faces and I can assure you I’m not clumsy; maybe I don’t want to stand out in this group, Maybe I just want to do my job... and that is being just a voice” 

“But you aren’t just a voice...” 

They heard softly behind them; Anchan was standing up on the door frame with a worried face. 

 

“Anchan...” said Nanaka softly

“Good, the leader is here...” said Aiai with her mocking tone

 

Anchan moved out of the cottage and stood in front of them; Aiai stood up on the porch with her

“I’m sorry, I couldn’t ignore your conversation...sorry to overhear it....” said Anchan with some shyness 

“Don’t worry about me” said Aiai giggling 

“I know I’m not just a voice...I have to perform too...” said Nanaka tiredly 

“Not just that Suwawa,” said Anchan with concern,” Wow... now I know why you don’t want to be the leader...” 

Nanaka deadpanned, they already had this conversation 

“Eh? You wanted her to be the leader?” asked Aiai amused looking at Anchan

“Anchan we talked about it, I don’t have the energy—“

“I know! It’s not a matter of energy, even if you had it, you don’t believe in us” said Anchan 

“Us?” Repeated Nanaka

“Aqours... you think it’s just a name...” 

 

_ Isn’t it? _

 

Nanaka just blinked. 

“For me, this is important, not just because of my career...” said Anchan

“Hey, don’t put it like is not important for me!” said Nanaka now a bit annoyed 

“But it isn’t; Aqours is us, and that includes you too...so it should mean something for you too,” said Anchan, Nanaka just stayed quiet. 

“You know, I’ve been thinking deeply enough about our conversation of the other day; today in the minivan I just felt so helpless, I couldn’t jog with everybody! And even if I could, Komiya-san wasn’t with us! And that bothers me because we are a group, we are in this together, we should stick together, not because that’s our job and that’s it because we should care about each other, we are building something here...” 

 

Nanaka blinked a few times amazed, trying to get what Anchan was saying, Aiai was equally amazed too. 

Seemed that all Anchan’s insecurities flew away. 

 

“And you know, you made me realize that. ...” said Anchan with a soft voice, “ you told me, that we needed a leader to push us further, that I wasn’t alone because there were nine of us here...so don’t give up on all of you just yet...are you giving up on us Suwawa?”

 

Nanaka clenched her fists. When this become so hard?  
When did her troubles with Kanan become her trouble with Aqours?

 

“So what is our goal Anchan?” asked Nanaka with bitterness 

 

Anchan made a face of being in deep thought.

Then she smiled at Nanaka.

 

“Honestly? I don’t know for sure, because I don’t feel us as a complete group yet...so I guess first is to become a group...?” said Anchan shyly 

“First to be one, then to run as fast as we can to get out of μ’s shadow...” said Aiai with her seriousness 

Nanaka and Anchan looked at her with concern 

Aiai just smiled at them

 

“What? girls, it’s clear as water! once we become Aqours, like a real group, we need to run out of μ’s shadow... do you really think that the fans are going to love us? That they will respect that we take μ’s place? ...we will be a poor copy of them, we will be really lucky if someone shows up on our debut, actually, Suwawa told us this on the first day! And you were right!” 

 

Nanaka opened her eyes wide; Yes, that was true, she said that, but of course, on that moment she wasn’t blinded by the fact that she didn’t fit Kanan, that she was having a love story with Shuka, that she needed to fit into the group and have a role within it, or that her actions will affect the characters and the members. 

Seemed that everything was more clear when she started than now because she didn’t know all of this, ignorance sure is bless. 

 

“We should be a group like μ’s was, they weren’t just nine girls working as an idols, they were friends in a group moving forward to a common goal; we need to learn from that and move further, we can’t stick in that too much or we will be the copies of μ’s for sure, we will need to find our own path eventually...”   
Said Aiai removing her towel out of her neck 

 

“Wow, who have thought that the mascot of the group could give such deep speech...” teased Anchan

Aiai just laughed with her squeaky tone

“Well, sometimes someone has to...” Aiai smiled sweetly at them 

 

Nanaka felt ashamed, in the beginning, she was the one who gave that kind of speech, now she was receiving it from Aiai, the mascot of the group. But then, recalling, Aiai was older than her, she was the more dependable of them, the one who cared about the details, about the birthdays of the girls, she has that sense of unity with the members, and not because her character demanded her to be like that, because Aiai was like that and believed in building something strong about Aqours. 

She cared about Aqours too. 

 

“So, I think we should leave this matter here...” said Aiai looking at Anchan, then she looked at Nanaka

“Suwawa, don’t give up on us yet you too, be part of Aqours like a full member, not just ‘Kanan-san’, you are one of us too, even if you want to be the quiet one... we will love you anyways...” then she laughed 

 

Nanaka gave her a faint smile, Anchan, on the other hand, smiled wider.

“Then, girls we should come back to the studio, the teachers were calling us....” said Anchan

 

_ Being an idol is so DAMN hard...and complicated... _

_ I should have stayed as a simple Seiyuu... _

 

But Nanaka didn’t come back to the studio, she excused herself with Anchan and Aiai saying that she needed to go back to Lodge 202 and change her clothes. Nobody asked why anyway, she had been with the same clothes since this morning and right now they were kind of smelly and sticky with all the sweat and everything. 

But mostly because she needed to digest all this information too. 

 

She walked in a quick pace to Lodge 202; in her way she crossed path with Rikako and King, both of them had already changed their clothes. 

Then a thought stoked her like lighting...

 

_ Arisa and Aikyan stayed in the dance studio, Aiai and Anchan were in the studio porch....there they go Rikako and King.... meaning... Shuka and Aina are alone... in the cottage...  _

 

Nanaka opened her eyes wide, a cold sweat ran from her spine, so she didn’t think twice and ran towards the cottage. 

This time Arisa wasn’t there to stop Aina or her to stop Shuka if they start fighting again, so she better hurried if she wanted Aqours to be a 9 member group. 

 

She opened the door carefully, took her shoes off in a diligent way and then she tried to rush to the stairs only to stop abruptly in the middle of it. 

She opened her eyes wide and shut tightly her lips. 

Indeed Aina and Shuka were alone in the room, and they were talking...

Talking about her. 

 

“….What’s your deal with Suwa-san?” asked Shuka in a serious tone

“You wanna keep doing this?... She is my friend Shukashuu...” Nanaka heard Aina said in her amused tone 

“I think you are not behaving like one...” said Shuka

“Eh?! Shuka I’m concerned about her, and of course about you too…and as a matter of fact, I’m concerned about Aqours” said Aina keeping her normal tone

Seemed that Shuka stayed quiet 

 

“Shuka, have you stopped to think about the damage you can cause to Aqours?” asked Aina

Nanaka could hear some cloth movement; maybe they were changing their clothes too

“Yes, of course, I did, and actually yesterday I talked about it with Suwawa ...” 

“And yet you still want to try it, and you still almost do it here! So reckless...” said Aina with an amused tone 

Shuka stayed quiet again.

 

_ Shuka... _

 

Nanaka made a bitter expression, she wanted to go upstairs, but her legs were glued to the stair.

 

“Suzuki-san...” said Shuka softly, “ I’m sorry... about calling you a smurf, it was wrong” 

Seemed that Aina was surprised about that, and she kept silence a few seconds before speak 

“Did Suwawa send you to apologize?” 

“What?! No... no... I haven’t talked to her alone since this morning...” said Shuka with a soft tone,

“I’m an adult you know?, I don’t need people telling me what to do…I thought it was the right thing to do...”

“She looks like your older sister Shuka…”

“She is nice…” said Shuka

 

For her tone, Nanaka could imagine that Shuka had a goofy dork smile right now. 

 

“Eh…anyways, I know I behave like a child this morning, I said bad things to you … I didn’t mean to, I’m sorry Ainya…”

Shuka’s tone sounded sincere, Aina giggled

“I said terrible things to you too…I'm sorry Shukashuu…,” said Aina in a cute tone

“Friends?” asked Shuka

Aina laughed like an old man

 

“What’s this?!, of course, Shukashuu… even if you don’t apologize, I’ll treat you like a friend…”

“Why?…” asked Shuka confused 

“I don’t believe in being mad….it tires me…” said Aina with her happy tone, “…I believe in happiness, that’s why I’m always happy…”

“Eh?!”

 

Nanaka smiled amazed; yes, Aina was always happy and doing weird things, she can’t be mad for that long.

 

“Shukashuu, being mad at you is not used at all… we all are stuck in this thing, we need to get along… that’s why I’m concerned about your thingie with Suwawa… it might affect Aqours” said Aina with her serious tone

“Yes, that’s why I wanted to apologize… not the fact that I wanna date Suwa-san,”

 

_ Date…..DATE?!….she is really willing to date me….  _

 

Nanaka felt her heart pouting really fast, her cheeks becoming red, and she couldn’t help but made a goofy grin on her lips.

 

“...but the fact about what happened this morning, the things I said to you… I’m not good being angry with people either, and I know you mean something to Suwa-san… this is hurting her too…and us being in bad terms will affect the group…remember that I jump over both of you on the main leapfrog…”Shuka giggled  

 

Shuka….

Nanaka pursed her lips; this was incredibly ripe for Shuka's behavior. In fact, Shuka was seeing the "big picture"; no good will come out, if the members are in bad terms, especially if one of them was the easel of the other one.

“Shukashuu….” said softly Aina, “ you…you are serious about her?”

“Of course,” said Shuka with confidence, “ Ainya, we did talk about it, she gave me the speech… we know Aqours can get compromised by our actions, trust me, is not what we want… we mean no harm to no one in this group, but….sometimes it can’t be helped…” 

“What …what do you mean?" 

“I believe in Aqours, as a group, of course, I want the nine of us to become something better than μ’s, to archive more than they did, and I trust Anchan to become a good leader to push us further, I trust in Aiai to be the dependable mascot of us, in Aikyan to be the group mood… I believe in you to be our weird Oijisan, but also I believe in Suwa’s support… I need her…”

“Shuka that’s selfish…”

“No, you don’t get it… Ainya, whether I see us nine as a whole group and I want the best for us as a group, I can’t stand being in the same room with her and don’t feel things for her… it’s like...something...greater than me…” 

 

Nanaka felt her heart stopped. 

 

“I know it doesn’t make any sense!, I know it’s weird! I'm choosing her instead of the group… but I want to try it…so, I get that you got mad about my selfish desire, I can’t talk in behalf of Suwa-san, but, if she told me she wanted to try too, maybe she chose me instead of the group as well…”

“I don’t think she had chosen anything…” said Aina in a low tone

“Eh?…”

 

_ Dammit, Aina… she knows me that well?!  _

 

“For her, there’s no group yet… so I doubt she had chosen a thing…” said Aina with bitterness

“Ok… it doesn’t matter anyway…” said Shuka with a better mood, “ Ainya...no…Suzuki-san… can I ask your help in this?”

“What?!” snapped Aina loud

 

_ Shuka?! really? she got some nerves…. _

Nanaka opened her eyes wide

 

“She trusts you…you are her closest friend beside me, you are with her in the ‘Third years’ group; I'm aiming to be with her in the subunit, but while that poll isn’t done yet, I need to know that someone is supporting her… it seems that I wasn’t doing my job with her very well… “ said Shuka with shyness. “… it seems that me being younger than her affects her, she can’t rely on me the way I want…”Shuka’s tone was sad

“So please Suzuki-san….bear with me, help me to be better for her…” finished Shuka

 

Nanaka heard some movement; maybe Shuka bowed?

Then silence. 

 

“Shukashuu….you don’t need to ask me that…” said Aina softly

“Eh?…”

“I’m gonna be with her anyways...you don’t know how much she is struggling with this, how hard had been for her, so…—“ but Aina couldn’t finish her sentence 

“You are wrong...” said Shuka slowly, “I know; why do you think I volunteered to do the main leapfrog for her? Why do you think I wanted to teach her how to leapfrog and with the dance?, Ainya I care about her more than you think, I really do...” finished Shuka with a knot in her throat.

Nanaka in surprise brought her hands towards her mouth hearing that. Shuka was always aware of her flaws.

“I see...I didn’t know that...well, you know, I’ll support her even if we don’t get in the same subunit…as same as for you…I’ll support the both of you, if that makes her happy…” said Aina with a lovely tone

 

_ Aina…. _

_ Damn! I should go and hug both of them... _

 

Nanaka felt they started to move

“Let's go to practice shall we?” said Aina again

 

Nanaka opened her eyes wide and moved faster to the entrance of the cottage ignoring if they said something else. 

They couldn’t see her there, she had heard everything and were sneaking around someone else’s conversation was rude, even if they were talking about her. 

She got to the entrance and opened the bathroom door; in a quick motion, she grabbed her shoes off the entrance and almost threw herself inside the bathroom. 

She felt their steps coming down from the stairs while she softly closed the door of the bathroom. 

 

She felt they left the cottage while they continued talking in a happy mood. 

Nanaka didn’t even breath for the next few seconds. 

 

_ What….the…..hell….oh my God!! _

 

She grabbed her temples and softly she massage it. 

Everything felt out of reach, too much information for just 3 days! and worse….in less than 10 minutes. 

She took a deep breath. 

 

_ This is no time to be hiding here… _

 

She grabbed her shoes once again and got out of the bathroom letting her shoes out. 

Nanaka quickly ran upstairs to change her clothes; she took out her tight light yellow shirt and her green knickerbockers and quickly changed for her blue sweatpants and a yellow tight shirt. 

She didn't bother to order her dirty clothes, she just rushed downstairs to grab her shoes once again and ran towards the studio cottage. 

 

She ran the fastest she could, maybe because she was so late, or maybe because she didn’t want to analyze what the hell happened there….

The only thing that mattered was that Shuka and Aina weren’t mad at each other anymore…and that was good. 

And that Shuka cared about Aqours too…while she, Suwa Nanaka, still couldn’t…

...and that wasn’t good.

 

She returned to the studio. 

Inside there were all Aqours members practicing some of the steps. 

Anchan was in the entrance with a worried expression but softened when she spotted Nanaka

Nanaka looked at Anchan with her “Suwa face” 

 

“I was worried… you might have gone home…” said Anchan giggling, Nanaka just smiled at her

 

_ So, this is Anchan assuming her role as the leader then… _

 

“So, I guess you made up your mind...” said Nanaka towards Anchan

“I guess I did... you were right...” said Anchan softly 

Nanaka hummed 

“Your words did work for me Suwa-san, so thank you very much...”   
Said Anchan with a shy smile

“But, if I’m gonna lead this group, I’m gonna need everybody on it...” said Anchan giving Nanaka a sad face

“Suwa-san, you have been really important for me in these past few days; giving a deep thought about this makes me realize how should I lead, so I really want you by my side in this group, you are part of it, so please stick with us, run with us...” 

Nanaka just smile at her and nodded. 

 

She can’t make such promise yet. 

But she was certainly that Anchan will be a good leader for them, with or without her there. 

 

Anchan and Nanaka joined the other members.

Nanaka couldn’t help but noticed that Arisa and Shuka, were wearing a mask in their noses and mouths, it seemed that Arisa was still with her stomachache and Shuka did catch a cold because of today morning event. 

Nanaka felt terrible about it, indeed she felt that it was her fault too...

 

The lead teacher stopped the practice and asked the girls to go and wait at the end of the room. 

The Chief of staff and his assistants came in; it seemed that it was time for some news. 

 

Yesterday news was about the popularity poll and subunits poll for the next few Dengeki G's Magazine issues. Nanaka recalled everyone going wild about the subunit poll, well, she was excited as well, because that meant another chance to be with Shuka in a subunit and don’t share one with Arisa. 

 

But it seemed that the news for today was different. 

The Chief of staff stood with his back to the mirror, while the girls stood on the opposite side near the window. The lead teacher put some little papers on the floor. 

The papers had numbers on it. 

 

“4,3,2,1,0,1,2,3,4” read Aiai in a low tone

“What are these?” asked Aikyan with concern 

“Positions on the stage...” said Anchan softly 

“How do you know...?” asked King in a low tone 

“Remember I work in theatres....” said Anchan giggling 

 

The Chief of staff cleared his throat 

“Ok girls pay attention!” He said in his singular rude tone,” we are going to start the preparations for your event...right now you are almost mastering your first song choreography, the second song is almost ready to be recorded and the practice of that song it’s going to start next week, also you will start recording the third and last song of the cd next week too...” 

Everybody nodded. 

 

“Now, as you can see, these numbers are stage positions... we will determine your stage setup for the events and not just the one of January alone, this will be the setup for every Aqours activity.” He said looking a paper in his hand. 

“Ok, of course, the center position will be Inami-san, please stand behind the 0....” 

 

Anchan did what she was told and stood in the center behind the ‘0’ paper. 

She had a shy smile and looked nervous. 

 

“Inami-san, you are ‘Chika-chan’, the leader, you will be always in the center unless production say the contrary, you will be the designated MC with the full members' activities, are we clear?” said the Chief of staff 

Anchan said a loud “Yes”.

 

“Ok...the setup will be in years groups, so in the positions ‘1’ we will have ‘Watanabe You’ and ‘Sakurauchi Riko’, “ he said, while Shuka and Rikako did a step to the front. 

“Saito-san, please stood at Inami-san’s left while Aida-san to her right” 

They did what they were told. 

“Ok, this is the setup for ‘Second years’” 

The three of them said a loud “Yes” 

“Ok, setup for ‘First years’, please stand behind the number on Inami-san's right; number 4, Kobayashi Aika, number 3, Furihata Ai and number 2, Takatsuki Kanako.” He said reading the paper. 

They did what they were asked. 

 

The Chief of staff, his assistants, the teachers, and production staff looked at the girls in line. 

They mumbled some words between them saying that they looked good. 

Everybody nodded and then he continued. 

 

“Ok, for ‘Third years’...” he made a bitter smiled 

“Numbers on the left side of Inami-san's, number 2, Komiya Arisa, number 3, Suwa Nanaka and number 4, Suzuki Aina” 

They stood behind the numbers, Nanaka was in the center.

 

_ Of course, Kanan is supposed to be the leader... _

 

 Nanaka looked at Shuka thru the mirror, she gave her a sad smile; Nanaka frowned trying to understand why then she got it. Her place was beside Aina. 

 

The staff once again started to mumble something; Nanaka saw the creepy assistant and the Lead teacher moving forward to the Chief of staff, and they shared some words in a very low tone, at the end he nodded. 

He cleared his voice.

 

“Ok, no, this doesn’t look good.” He said clearly   
“Komiya-san, please change places with Suwa-san” 

 

Nanaka was with her “Suwa face”, she looked by the corner of her eyes at Aina, who gave her a sad face, she understood why they were changing her, the same thing with Arisa, she also gave her a sad face. 

That was the production telling them that Arisa will be the leader of ‘Third years’, that Kanan attributes were being tossed to Dia. 

 

Nanaka changed places, now she was behind number 2, beside Shuka. 

Shuka actually greeted her with a big and wide smile, Nanaka just rose her eyebrows and smiled at her. 

The creepy assistant and the Chief of staff smiled smugly while the Lead teacher crossed her arms proudly.

 

“Alright, now this looks better,” he said in his harsh tone

“First years” and “Second years” all looked troubled about this change of formation, well, not everybody, Shuka seemed happy, but the rest all looked with weird faces. 

Of course, Aina and Arisa knew exactly why this change was made so they kept their sad faces. 

 

The official lineup was the following, from left to right; “First years”, Kobayashi Aika, Furihata Ai, Takatsuki Kanako; “Second years”, Aida Rikako, Inami Anju, Saito Shuka; “Third years”, Suwa Nanaka, Komiya Arisa and Suzuki Aina. 

 

“Ok, this is the official lineup on stages activities, meaning Lives, events, and Niconamas.” He said, then added 

“When you get separated into ‘years group’, like the campaign event of October, this will be the setting too, and the person in the center, meaning, Inami-san, Furihata-san, and Komiya-san, will be the MCs” 

Everybody said a loud “Yes”

 

_ Well, this was going to happen anyways...the thing is, that this man is talking like this is permanent...like I lost the position for good and that’s it... _

 

Nanaka tried to hide her sadness smiling at Shuka; it can’t be helped, and even if they didn’t change her place with Arisa, how is she supposed to do the MC, if she doesn’t have the personality and Arisa was clearly far more prepared. 

 

_ How I’m gonna fit in this group if they are always reminding me that I’m a failure and that I can’t do my job right... _

 

Soon the Chief of staff with his crew left with Aiai because it was her turn to record. 

On schedule, Aina and King’s turn to record was for tomorrow morning because tonight they will have a group activity such as cooking the meal for all the Sunshine crew and a rehearsal of the full choreography.  

So with no further issues, they continued the dance practice. 

 

.

 

.

 

Late in the afternoon, Aiai came back from recording with even her shirt being changed. 

They did practice a few times in the small dance room, but then they changed to the big one, with the number papers included. 

It was time for the full rehearsal with all the members, for this special occasion every member of the Sunshine staff was there, from the ones of the recording room, the Chief of staff and his assistants, the sound producer and of course the teachers. 

So they stood in the middle of the room with a full audience in front of them, there was a camera too, of course, at this point of the camp, Nanaka have forgotten the cameraman and the fact that this had been recorded for the sake of the VTR they will show in the event in January. 

Before starting the girls gathered in the center of the room making the circle of the choreography. 

Everybody shared gazes towards each other, they indeed felt nervous. 

“It’s ok...” said Anchan, “ we have been practicing, training... and failed together...we can succeed together too...” 

Everybody nodded 

“Maybe we should do something more... Aiai a few words?” suggested Rikako

“Eh?!..” said surprised Aiai

“We should do something with...you know...” said Aikyan moving her right hand to the center of the circle, everybody agreed and got together in the center with their right arm stretched.

“Let’s do ‘that’” said Shuka with a big smile

“Yes ‘that’!” said King

“Eh, what should we—“ tried to ask Anchan

“Shout something...” said Aikyan to Anchan

“Ok...” said Anchan shyly while everybody joined their hands in the center of the circle,” Yosh...Yes, this is embracing...”

Everybody giggled 

“Don’t be shy...” said Aikyan again

“Is everybody ready?!” shouted Anchan

“YES!” said everybody in unison 

“Aqours!” called Anchan loud

“Fight~oh!” shouted the nine girls lifting their hands to the ceiling

And with that, everybody took their respective positions in the circle and started the rehearsal, this time they had to sing and dance, like the real big deal. 

But, even if they missed a few notes or messed up with a few tones, or the fact that Aina still couldn’t make the jump but she managed to reach the center in time for Shuka to jump over her and Nanaka; the rehearsal felt good, they had a sensation of unity; finally the group was taking shape. 

.

  
After the “ultimate rehearsal”, the lead teacher sent them to the dining room. For their surprise, the dining room was filled with cookware, ingredients, and crockery. The room was divided into “stations” for the different dishes they would need to made; the production wasn’t joking when they said that they will need to cook for the whole Sunshine production. Of course, people of the staff was helping too, this was an activity for everybody to bond.

Anchan took it slowly and sat alone on one of the tables, her ankle was giving her trouble again after that strenuous practice. So Aqours leader was out of combat, in that scenario Arisa took the lead for no particular reason, just because she was diligent enough to go bossing around. 

“Oh so ‘Dia-sama’,” said Aikyan

“Stop fooling around and let’s split the tasks,” said Arisa with her diligent tone, “ Kobayashi-san, help Furihata-san with the _gyoza_ ,” 

“Roger!” Said Aikyan moving towards Aiai

“Ok _oneechan~_ ,” said Aiai with her Ruby voice

“Kanako, can you do the _Takoyaki_?” asked Arisa, King just shrugged and without saying anything she moved towards the “ _Takoyaki_  station”

Rikako moved to another station without Arisa sending her to nowhere in particular, maybe because she didn’t want to cook at all... maybe she sucked at that so she preferred to stay out of the activity, so Arisa saw Nanaka, Shuka, and Aina beside her; she lifted her eyebrows 

“My day starts with you, and ends with you,” said Arisa coldly,” should we stay far from the knives?” 

“Don’t be silly,” said Nanaka with her cold tone and “Suwa face”, “ say, where do you need us?”

“What do you guys are good at?” asked Arisa normally 

“I love cooking!” said Shuka with a lot of energy “ so, I’m very confident with my skills”

“Ok, then, shall we chop some veggies?” said Arisa moving towards the “veggies station”. 

Nanaka looked at Aina, both shared some looks, Aina just gave her a goofy smile

“Well, you got a skillful wife, she can cook for you,” said Aina with her amuse tone

“Maybe we should be far from the knives...” said Nanaka walking towards Arisa and Shuka.

“Aw, you are no fun!” said Aina walking fast behind her, Nanaka just ignored her. 

 

Indeed Shuka had wonderful skills for cooking, or at least for chopping veggies; Arisa wasn’t doing it bad too, she was skilfully chopping carrots, while Nanaka and Aina were watching them

“Aren’t you going to help her?” asked Aina towards Nanaka in a whisper voice

“Mmmm... why? Seems that they have all the veggies under control...” answered Nanaka with a whisper

“Oh, could it be...that Suwawa doesn’t know how to cook....?” said Aina giggling 

Nanaka looked at her and deadpanned 

“Of course I know how to cook...” said Nanaka looking at Arisa and Shuka once again,” it’s just like they seem fine on their own, don’t be an ass...”

_Is not that I don’t know how to cook, I’m always alone... so I eat whatever I find...mmm...maybe I need to change that and be more careful with my diet...?_

“Dia-sama!” They heard Arisa being called by Anchan, “ what I can help with?” 

Arisa stopped chopping the carrots and straightly answered,

“Make pork miso soup”

“Ok!” said Anchan moving towards another table

Nanaka’s and Aina’s task was to deliver the chopped veggies to the different stations for them to cook; indeed it was teamwork. 

“Oi! What the hell are you doing! Watch it!” shouted Aikyan on the _gyoza_ ’s station

“Oh crap!” said Aiai in her squeaky tone, “ I ruined my shirt!”

Aiai started to move exaggerated in circles while Aikyan was taking the lead with the frying pan

“I thought this was easier!” shouted Aiai still with her squeaky voice

“Don’t mess around with the sesame oil....you put too much on it....ohhh crap! My shirt too...”

Aiai laughed loud

“We should do this for Shuka’s birthday!” said Aiai loud again

“Hey! Keep it down!” scolded Arisa from the “chopping veggies station”

“Those are too noisy aren’t they?” said Anchan towards Nanaka who was delivering some ingredients to Anchan’s pork miso soup

“Yes they are...here...” said Nanaka giving her the ingredients

“Oh, mushrooms?!” said Anchan with a disgusted face

“Oh, you don’t like it?” 

“Hate them, I can’t stand them...” said Anchan pouring some ingredients on the cauldron 

“Then don’t use this and that’s it...” said easily Nanaka and moved forward to the next station. 

 

Nanaka was moving back towards the “chopping veggies station” to grab some more when she heard a bowl crashing and a lot of girly screaming noises; everybody looked back at Arisa and Shuka who were the ones who screamed, Aina was on the floor. 

Nanaka rose her eyebrows and rushed quickly towards them

“Ainya what the hell?!” asked Arisa with anger

“Damm, this burns,” said Shuka dropping her knife on the table and waving her stained shirt

“Aina are you ok?,” said Nanaka giving a hand to Aina to stand up, “ Shuka what happened? Are you alright?”

Aina stood up with difficulties 

“I’m ok...” said Shuka with a troubled look towards Aina and Nanaka

“I’m ok too if you mind...” said Arisa in a low tone, 

 

_ I don’t mind... _

 

“The hell are you doing?!” Scolded Arisa looking at Aina

“I fell, I’m sorry...” said Aina leaving what was left of the bowl on top of the table

Nanaka recognized the bowl and its contents on the floor, those were the rest of Anchan’s pork miso soup.

“Why were you running with that? Did you do this on purpose?” asked Arisa kind of mad, her shirt was stained too

“Why would I want to do that on purpose? I wanted you to taste the soup!” said Aina offended 

“Well Saito-san is here...” said Arisa with less anger and pointing at Shuka with her knife

“Hey! Careful!” said Shuka looking at Arisa 

Nanaka looked at the three girls, of course, Arisa didn’t get the memo that Shuka and Aina made peace to each other a few hours ago, well, for the record, she didn’t get the memo too... because she overheard that conversation, so maybe she should look more surprised about this. 

“Let’s clean this,” said Nanaka with her calm and sweet tone taking out some napkins to dry the floor

“We are at peace Komiya-san,” said Shuka in low tone taking some napkins too

“Oh, really?” said Arisa moving some of the damaged veggies out of the table

“I’m sorry, I didn’t want to throw the soup at any of you,” said Aina cleaning the floor with Nanaka

“Why were you with the soup in the first place?....” said Arisa recovering her mad tone

“Oh, I wanted to sample it...” said Aina with her amused tone and with a goofy smile, like if it was the most normal thing to do

“What?!” asked Arisa with her diligent tone, stopping everything she was doing and looking down at Aina

“What, what?” asked Aina looking up towards Arisa

“Are you really going to tell me that while we are working our asses out, you were sampling the goddamn soup?! " said Arisa in a disbelieving tone

Shuka and Nanaka shared worried gazes.

“Yes,” said Aina with her carefree tone

“You fool!” said Arisa mad while hitting the table with strength enough for a bottle of soy to drop and to spill its contents on top of Nanaka’s shoulder and back. 

The room was silent. 

Nanaka blinked a few times feeling the cold liquid in her yellow shirt. Aina opened her eyes wide while bitting her lips, Shuka brought her hands towards her mouth, while Arisa opened her mouth and eyes in shock. 

“Suwa-—“ tried Arisa but she couldn’t finish her sentence, Nanaka stood from the floor first looking at Arisa with her mad “Suwa face”

 

_ We should be where the knives were... _

 

“Are we gonna have a food fight now?” said Nanaka with a cold tone taking the soy bottle with her right hand

“I’m in!” shouted Aiai from her station

“Me too!” Shouted Aikyan

“Oi! Calm down!” said Anchan,” no food fight!”

“Suwawa, you need to change that or it will leave a stain...” said Aina standing up 

“I’m sorry Suwa—“ tried Arisa but she was ignored dryly by Nanaka; she left the soy bottle on top of the table and moved out of the dining room with her normal pace, caring so less if the staff could be angry or whatever with her. 

Surprisingly she wasn’t the only one who left, behind her Shuka, Arisa, Aiai, and Aikyan were walking towards the Lodge with her. 

“So here the stained squad!” shouted Aiai with energy and with her squeaky tone, Aikyan made a sound with her, Shuka just giggled. 

It seemed that the staff sent all those who stained their self to change their shirts. 

“We should really have that food fight,” said Aikyan with energy

“We really should do that on Shuka’s birthday! What do you think Shuka?” asked Aiai

“What? No...” said Shuka with a happy grin on her face

“Suwa-san!” called Arisa moving faster trying to catch her

Nanaka opened the door of the cottage and looked back at her with her mad “Suwa face”

“What the hell do you want?” asked Nanaka

“I'm sorry, I didn't mean to, " said Arisa stopping at the porch

Nanaka ignored her and closed the door. 

“You really pissed her,” said Aiai stopping by her side

“She is scary...” said Aikyan moving forward with Shuka who didn’t say a thing about it. 

 

Nanaka entered the bathroom and looked the stain on her shirt on the mirror; it looked bad. 

So she took her shirt off and started washing it. While scrubbing, she heard how everybody got inside and walked upstairs to change. She started to mentally curse Arisa in every scrub; Arisa was indeed clumsy, insecure and clearly, she wasn’t used to working in groups. 

Luckily for Nanaka, the soy stain did go away quickly. 

But now she had another “problem”, she was only with her bra on and her shirt was wet for her to put it on and go upstairs to change. 

She blinked a few times, then she shrugged 

 

_ Nothing to do about it, there’s nothing new under the sun... _

 

She left the bathroom, on her way upstairs she met Aikyan and Aiai going down with new shirts on and in a rush because they found some bugs and no one was good with bugs, so they rushed out of the cottage while screaming. 

Nanaka wasn’t good with bugs too, but she wasn’t in any position to go out of the cottage shirtless.

Once she reached upstairs she found Shuka changing her stained pink shirt into a blue one while Arisa was changing her red shirt for a grey one. 

Nanaka’s steps didn’t go unnoticed for the two girls, so both of them turned around to greet her; Shuka gave her a coy smile while Arisa a sad one. 

Nanaka couldn’t help to see how Shuka’s cheek became wild red; Yes, Nanaka was shirtless, exposing her cute belly, her bra, and her cute small chest, Shuka’s mind went wild. 

Nanaka looked at Arisa’s sad smile, then moved her sight to Shuka; she recalled Shuka’s and Aina’s conversation, no good will come if one of them was mad towards another, for the common wealth of the group, because of Aqours, they need to be at peace, no matter what. 

She sighed. 

“Don’t worry Komiya-san, it was an accident...” said Nanaka in her “Suwa tone” walking towards her futon

“Are you ok?...” asked Arisa with concern

“Yes ... "Nanaka said softly, then she left her shirt to dry and looked at the mess on her futon, of course, on top there where her training clothes from before

There was a moment of silence; Arisa looked at Nanaka’s back, then looked at Shuka, both of them shared gazes, and because Arisa wasn’t a fool, she understood clearly. 

Arisa cleared her throat.

“Ok...I’m sorry once again...I’ll left the both of you...” she started walking towards the stairs where she stopped

“It’s not my concern, but...try to don’t do “dirty stuff”, we will be waiting for you to have dinner...”

Shuka giggled nervously about it, while Nanaka just ignored her, she was too busy looking her “dirty shirt” from earlier; she grabbed and inspected it, it seemed that she could use it now, so, she stood up with her shirt on her hands, but before she could put it on, two strong but lovely arms rounded her belly 

Nanaka stiffed in her spot.

“Shuka...” called softly 

“It’s been a while for us to be alone...” said Shuka shyly hiding in Nanaka’s back

Nanaka hummed

This indeed felt nice; Nanaka closed her eyes enjoying Shuka’s embrace

“I hope my birthday present feels nice like this...” said softly Shuka again.

Nanaka opened her eyes wide and made a smug smile, she slowly turned around dropping her shirt, and without any warnings, she grabbed Shuka’s puffed cheeks and closed the distance between them

“It’s gonna feel nicer...” whispered Nanaka

And they kissed. 

The kiss was lovely, sweet and slow. Nanaka was really enjoying Shuka’s lips, tasting it and slightly bitting them when she could feel how Shuka’s playful hands where tracing her bare back till reaching the hooks of her bra, she felt Shuka’s fingers trying to unhook it when Nanaka opened her eyes and separated from Shuka’s lips.

“Wait Shuka...” said Nanaka a bit freaked out

“I’m...I’m sorry...” said Shuka while she brought her hands to her eyes in shame, “ men, I can’t control myself...”

Nanaka gave her an apologetic smile.

“It’s ok sweetie...” said Nanaka turning around and grabbed her shirt again,” we will have plenty of time on your birthday...” 

“Really?” asked Shuka taking her hands away from her face just to catch Nanaka putting on her shirt

“Yes, so don’t worry...” said Nanaka and gave Shuka a sweet smile

“Right, we can’t do ‘dirty things’ here like Arisha said....” said Shuka biting her lips, Nanaka snorted

“I don’t care what Komiya-san said if we wanted we can be doing it right now...” said Nanaka moving towards the stairs, Shuka followed her

“Re... re...Really....?” said Shuka locking gazes with Nanaka; she had a spark in her eyes, then Nanaka bit her lower lip.  


_Carefully Nanaka, this kid is really horny...so don’t give her hopes now..._  


“Shuka, don’t look at me like that, remember we agreed to wait...and, we promised Komiya-san to don’t do stuff with the members around...”

“No one is here...” said Shuka, but Nanaka deadpanned and turned off the light

“But they are waiting for us...” said Nanaka moving downstairs; Shuka giggled and followed her.

“But, there’s something I did care about what Komiya-san said,” said Nanaka, “ the thing about telling the members.... have you thought about it?” she asked

“Hum...not enough...” said Shuka reaching down and looking Nanaka how she bent down to put on her shoes, “...maybe I want you all for myself...”

“Eh?!...The fact that we tell them it’s not meaning you will need to—...” Nanaka looked back at Shuka and caught her staring,” ...Are you looking my rear?”

Shuka smiled at her wide, her teeth included and walked to get her shoes too

Nanaka finished to put on her shoes and opened the cottage door

“If Komiya-san was right, telling them might help the sense of unity we need to create inside this group...” said Nanaka in her diligent tone

“I don’t know, it’s risky....how well do you trust these people anyway?” said Shuka putting her shoes on, “ isn’t this whole camp and the activities we had been doing helping to bond with each other enough? Why risk our _relationship_ for the sake of the group?” Shuka finished putting on her shoes

“Besides,” Shuka continued,” what if they are not ok with this and happens that they agreed with Ainya? Do you want more bitter members telling us what or not to do? I rather prefer sticking just with you...”

Nanaka blinked a few times remembering that Shuka had chosen her instead of Aqours, so her loyalties were with their relationship more than the group

Where were hers? In Aqours? Shuka? Kanan?...herself?...

Both walked towards the dining room mostly in silence, maybe Shuka was giving a deep thought about it or waiting for Nanaka to give her an answer to all those questions. 

“Do you feel that there’s a sense of unity?” asked Nanaka entering the dining room; Shuka stopped her steps and looked at her with concern

“Well, I believe we have built up something...but I don’t feel confident to tell them about us yet...” said Shuka shyly, Nanaka smiled sweetly at her

_Thought so...  
_ _Besides, there’s no ‘us’ yet...we aren’t a couple..._

The production was expecting them to come; All Aqours members were sat on one of the big tables, Anchan pointed Shuka to sit next to her, while Aiai was saving Nanaka a seat beside hers. 

They poured some drinks on the glass of each member of the whole crew; the Chief of staff gave them a wonderful speech and then he tossed the words to Anchan who shyly tried to refuse to talk.

“C’mon! You are the leader!” shouted Aiai from the other side of the table

“We are counting on you!” said King

“If you don’t talk we can’t start eating!” said Aikyan 

With that pressure, Anchan didn’t have much more choices and shyly agreed, but not after she saw the cameraman getting close to her. She smiled shyly, and with a cue, she started:

“I’m really glad that everyone’s hard work are finally beginning to take shape,” said Anchan with a serious but shy tone,” As our activities together pile up, I thought we’ve finally gained self-confidence about being part of this group...”

Everybody in the dining room just looked at Anchan with a smile and even nodded. 

“...After all, within just two days, we worked so hard and now we are able to arrive at this level.” continued Anchan,” And that makes me so happy!” She said shyly while giggling. 

Nanaka smiled proudly, this was her words in that conversation with Anchan on the first day when Anchan was doubting about being the leader and of her own role in the production. 

Indeed, her “influence” in Anchan’s confidence did make a deep impression. 

“I believe that everything that we do from now own as well will form into much more, and it will grow into one good production!” continued Anchan with a goofy smile on her face

“That’s it!”

 She finished shyly, everybody clapped happily and shouted her words of encouragement.

Nanaka couldn’t help but smiled faintly, at least Anchan was seeing them as a group; Aqours had its leader, a captain of an undone ship sailing in an unknown ocean. So now it was a matter of time for the rest of the members to start boarding this ship and join her in this adventure. 

While the dinner began and the room started to fill with noise again, Nanaka sentenced that maybe they were starting to build up something, but is not complete yet for her, maybe when they accomplish something bigger than survive a training camp, is where Aqours will take shape. 

 

.

 

.

 

.

 

The last night of training camp was marked with the last of their activities; watching the fireworks. That activity was scheduled after dinner and after the bath, so the girls could use their normal clothes.

They agreed to gather in the parking lot of the village, all the Sunshine crew needed to assist, of course, it was a way to put an end to the training camp. 

While of course “First years” rushed out of the cottage making so much noise, Anchan with Rikako and Arisa went out more calmly, leaving the problematic trio behind. 

“C’mon Osuwa!” said Shuka impatience 

“You should get used to “Suwa-slowness”...” said Aina amused walking downstairs, Shuka was waiting at the front door

“I heard that!” shouted Nanaka upstairs 

“What’s taking you so long?” asked Shuka crossing her arms, while Aina put on her shoes 

“Patience is a virtue...” said softly Nanaka walking downstairs 

“I don’t know if yours is a virtue or your natural state of mind...” added Aina

“I move at my own pace...” said Nanaka reaching her shoes and locking gazes with Shuka

“Oh my...” said softly Shuka looking at Nanaka,

“What?” asked Nanaka in her singsong voice while putting on her shoes 

“Why are you wearing a ponytail?” asked Aina; Shuka bit her lips

“Eh?” Nanaka looked at her, “Why is this weird?”

“You look beautiful,” said Shuka with a smile on her face and her cheeks becoming slightly red

Aina snorted

“You two are unbearable...” said Aina with bitterness

“Awww Ainya don’t be sad, you look adorable too!” said Shuka with her bright smile

“You have a ponytail too...” said Nanaka finishing with her shoes 

“Gee~ thanks...” said Aina moving outside the cottage, Shuka, and Nanaka followed too

“But seriously, why the ponytail? I get it for dance practice, but you usually do your cute girly hairstyle with your cute girly outfits...” asked Aina with a normal tone 

Nanaka shared some glances with Shuka, she just smiled at her. Indeed Nanaka was with her girly dress, not the same one on the first day, this one was a blue dress with a white fluffy blouse. 

“Well, because I’m ‘Kanan’” Nanaka said dryly. 

Shuka and Aina looked at each other with puzzled looks. Nanaka just smile faintly and kept walking. 

They reached the parking lot where of course everybody was waiting for them. So with no further issues, the party started. 

They lit some fireworks and started to move around with the fireworks in their hands; they even took pictures with them, of course, “First years” were fooling around and making so much noise about it. 

Nanaka just moved around at her pace; this felt nice, being with everybody doing this kind of activity where you can’t be judged nor can’t do it wrong. But mostly because she was at peace. 

Yes, she made up her mind, so now she was clear on what to do and how. 

“Ok girls! Please gather on the other side” shouted the Chief of staff pointing the exact place for them to go

The girls moved towards it, of course, doing a lot of noise. They stood beside one car waiting for the staff to lit a big firework that almost looked like a bonfire.  Everybody was talking or shouting at the same time; Nanaka couldn’t catch all of it just how Aiai and Shuka where fooling around together...

“This reminded me of my time of youth~,” said Aiai with an old man tone 

“What the hell Aiai? You are not that old!” said Shuka giggling 

“I am!” said Aiai puffing her cheeks

“Oh! I have puffed cheeks like that too!” said Shuka with energy, then both of them hugged and rubbed their cheeks together laughing   


  
_ They are kids... well, we all are... _

__

Nanaka smiled faintly while looking at them with the corner of her eyes, then she looked up at the main event. 

The big fire lighting them up.

Yes, maybe they all were kids trying to play this “Idol game” in the adult world, but at least she wasn’t alone doing it.

After this 3 days and 4 nights, she did learn a few things, not only about herself but of her fellow members too.  

Maybe it was time to stop glooming around and actually take more actions about it. Arisa was right, screw what production designed, she has the chance to create a new Matsuura Kanan of her own that actually will fit her better; she has this opportunity to be loving and friendly with Shuka because her character can do it, so why not get an advantage of that?

So yeah, if Kanan is giving her this chance, why not be more friendly with her as well? If being closer to Kanan means that she will need to start using more green, go to the gym often, gain some muscles, build _her_ nice body, use that goddam ponytail more often or even dye her hair to be closer to her, well, so be it. 

Maybe she wasn’t up for the task production designed in the beginning, but surely she is more than determined to fulfill whatever production designs now with the actual Kanan, and that means if production determines that Kanan should fuck every member in hugs and love, she will do it. 

She will become the best Kanan she possibly could.

 

Nanaka felt her right arm being grabbed tightly; she snapped out of her mind and smiled softly looking to her right. Shuka was grabbing her arm while looking at the bright light coming from the fireworks, she looked happy, her smile was wide and full of love; Shuka looked back at her, they locked gazes.

_ I’m not alone doing this...and I don’t need to be _

  
She moved her arm letting Shuka know she should unlock her arm out of hers; this made Shuka looked sad at her, but it was quickly replaced by a surprised look, Nanaka grabbed her hand and entwining their fingers

“Suwawa, are you sure?” asked softly Shuka 

Nanaka just gave her a sweet smile and nodded, then she returned her sight to the fireworks, Shuka did the same while smiling even wider. 

 

Definitely, she will become the “caring one” of the group. That was her role within Aqours. 

Maybe she wasn’t looking the big picture, like Aqours as a group, because they aren’t a group yet, maybe after the event in January, when they really accomplish something as a group, their first step, they will be a group, but right now, she was looking after the members without realising; she was actually taking care of them directly or indirectly, so Sakurako Kimino was right, she was a caring person and that’s what she shares with Kanan. 

So now realizing her role and how to portray her character, Suwa Nanaka was ready to start running with everyone else. 

 

The big firework ended making a huge cloud of smoke; Aikyan got an advantage of that and started playing to the “little demon” while appearing from behind the smokescreen imitating Yoshiko, her character, of course, Aiai and King followed thru and started doing it too.

Shuka and Nanaka started to laugh about their silliness when Nanaka felt her left hand was being held. She looked to her left and found a shy Aina grabbing her hand too.

Both shared gazes; Aina gave her a coy smile, while Nanaka gave her a shy smile, maybe it was dark enough for Shuka to don’t see what was happening on the other side, or maybe she was just too absorbed into what “First years” and now Anchan with Rikako were doing, but the fact that Nanaka’s attention wasn’t all into Shuka but now she was divided with Aina as well. 

Nanaka tightened both grips of her hands, it didn’t matter for now. She turned her sight to the front once again and closed her eyes enjoying the moment. 

Their last night on the camp; they sure came in the first day as 9 girls individually chasing for μ’s shadow, and right now they will leave as 9 girls aiming to be a group and determinate to go even further than μ’s.

She felt happy, she felt loved, but how little she could know, that everything will get even more complicated and why not, even get worse...

This was just beginning. 

 

\--0oo0--

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, Training camp is finally done!  
> Let's enjoy a bit of calm and no more drama for a bit... things will get worse...  
> We will start to move a bit faster now.  
> The legendary Subunits is the next thing to come!
> 
> Thanks so much for the Kudos and Comments!  
> :)!


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the training camp is where the real project starts.  
> The Results of Popularity poll and Subunits are right here!  
> Can this affect Suwa Nanaka's private and profesional life?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We are starting a "new arc". Yay!  
> Shuka's birthday story it's on Lies Under a Mask Ch 03 if someone is curious about it.  
> Please enjoy!

 Masquerade  
  Chapter 06

 

——-**0. October 2015. 0**——

 

There’s something that is characteristic inside Lantis building, and that would be the busy noise that it can be heard in every single one of its halls. 

Not just because of people going from one place to another, or the different kinds of projects or artists training, recording or whatever around the building; indeed it was a busy place for work, and this kind of noise was perfect to hide other types of noises...

 

Like heavy thumping noises of some lockers being beaten insatiably, or some groans and moans escaping from one or another closet. Or wet sounds of an intense kissing session in the restrooms...

Lantis building was perfect to have a secret and forbidden love gathering around its installations, that of course, Suwa Nanaka wasn’t aware of, until almost two months and a half ago. 

 

After training camp, Shuka’s birthday was celebrated and despised all Nanaka’s poor efforts to maintain Shuka sober, “First years” had other plans, and made Shuka drunk. Nanaka had no other choice to brought her home, and one thing took to another, and finally, they did it; they made love to each other and consummated their love. 

 

After that new experience, Shuka was determined to ask Nanaka out and finally become a couple, but it wasn’t that easy, the thingie about telling the other members about this relationship was still playing around inside their minds, and both agreed that no news was to tell to the members after they finally made it official...

...and for the sake of that, they had several dates, forbidden gatherings inside Lantis building, more “training sessions” in Shuka’s house, etc, until a final and deciding date in an aquarium, where they finally became a couple. 

 

But not everything is sunshine and rainbows.

Maybe this almost two month and a half was a bit of a honeymoon for this two lovebirds; because they were still unknown  _Seiyuus_  and the Sunshine project was still in the dark for the fans, at least not until their Single debut campaign on late October, so they could enjoy a “normal” life and date like everyone else. 

But, the “sex issue” was now a thing. 

For Nanaka, it wasn’t her first time on Shuka’s birthday, but for Shuka it was, and with that incredible experience Shuka’s mind somehow expanded to a whole different world. 

 

And that being that;

She 

Wants

To 

Do 

It 

Always. 

 

Anytime, all the time. 

 

It was like if Nanaka had opened a forbidden and hidden box inside Shuka, that now she was having troubles to keep it locked. 

Shuka being an energetic kid had the energy to do a lot of rounds in one single night, while Nanaka who had low stamina and low energy was having a hard time trying to catch up. 

So no wonder if after almost two months and a half, Nanaka now knew all the hidden spots and secret places inside Lantis building for her and Shuka to “relieve stress”. 

 

 

 

After an extenuate sound of lockers banging towards a wall, and a loud moan that was shut out by the murmurs and busy noises of the Lantis halls, a door was opened. 

Some slow and quiet footsteps started to wander around in a singular and now well know pace; the footsteps reached a near restroom, and quietly some hands were being washed. 

 

A soft sigh was heard...

 

_My, I’m already tired..._

 

Suwa Nanaka watched her reflection on the mirror; she had a tired expression already in her “Suwa face”, and not just because it was early, it was because this kind of activity with Shuka was tiring her up too. 

They agreed to come at least one hour early than the other members at work to have their “relieve stress” activity, mostly because in this time of the year, meaning the end of summer, Shuka’s house was always with people, that being her siblings, and this month Nanaka’s parents were at home every day and every time, so the only moment alone they could had was before or after work, but, after work was kind of hard due to the other members being around.

 

Nanaka closed the faucet and dry her hands with a towel. 

She took her phone out of her pocket; it was 8:53 am.

Dance practice was scheduled for 9:00 am. 

 

_I’m gonna be late... how I’m gonna dance now...? I feel like I run out of energy already... my, the members are going to mock me again about it..._

 

Nanaka moved out of the room and walked in her normal pace towards the stairs; she went downstairs straight to the changing room production kindly gave them since they came back from the training camp.

That was a step, next thing was the real practice room, the one that μ’s is using, the one with the real mirror on it. But they have to conform with the white and big room they were using by now until μ’s ends their activities. 

 

She opened the door carefully; she sighed relieved that there was no one inside so she came in with confidence. 

She walked towards her usual locker and smiled smugly in front of it; Shuka had put her stuff inside the locker with the lock, just like they planned. 

She opened it.

 

 

Since they started “ _doing it_ ”, they have been careful with all this secret and forbidden gatherings, of course, no members knew about their activities; Yes, maybe Arisa and Aina knew they were a  _thing_ , but clearly they didn’t know that they were sneaking inside the building's blind spots to actually, _do it._  

 

So the plan was simple, came to work, depending on the day or the activity went to a determined place, meaning a closet, another empty changing room or a forgotten restroom;  _do it_ , then they almost flip a coin to decide who leaves first to another restroom or a near one, while the other one went to the real changing room and settled everything inside the lockers like if nothing happened, if someone asked the answer was simple as “Ahh~ she is in the restroom and asked me to leave her stuff here”. 

 

Fortunately, this excuse had never been used, for Nanaka’s relief; because Shuka was a terrible liar and she would end up laughing. Nanaka was always with her “Suwa face” so the lie with her will be safe. 

Not because she wanted to lie to her fellow members...

 

 

_Lie to the members... wait a minute..._

 

 

Nanaka closed her locker, now changed into her training clothes. 

She grabbed her bottled water and exited the changing room walking at her normal pace towards the practice room. 

 

 

Right now, they were a couple. 

Officially. 

And they agreed that once they made it official, they would tell the members, for the sake of stop lying to them, and to get advantages of Kanan behavior for Nanaka to hug Shuka in public avoiding the weird looks. (And that task was being really hard for Nanaka to resist; she loved hugging her...)

But, there’s a reason that they haven’t done that yet. 

 

 

_Why?_

 

 

Nanaka opened the practice room door; to her surprise, the practice hasn’t started yet, but indeed she was the last one to get inside, even though the teachers weren’t there yet. 

 

“Wow! Suwawa! What’s wrong with your face?” mocked Aiai who was stretching on the floor looking towards the door

Nanaka ignored her completely and walked to the end of the room to leave her stuff, she could feel Aina’s gaze all over her

 

She left her jersey and her bottled water on top of a chair

 

“You look like crap” she heard softly behind her

She closed her eyes

 

_All these “relief activities” are destroying me..._

 

She turned around to find a smiling Aina behind her

“Morning Ainya,” said Nanaka in her singsong voice

“Something wrong?” asked Aina concerned 

“No, everything’s fine... I’m sleepy...”   
Said Nanaka walking to the center of the room where everyone was stretching on the floor

 

Aina just snorted, of course, she knew that something more was happening beside Nanaka being sleepy.

 

“Shuka what’s that?” asked Anchan in her carefree tone while stretching too

“Breakfast,”   
Said Shuka who was sitting with everybody but not stretching, instead she was raising a small package towards her mouth 

“What? You didn’t have anything before—?” tried Arisa

“What are ya eating?” asked Anchan interrupting her

 

Shuka lowered the package and with a wide smile said,

“Yogurt,” 

Nanaka raised her eyebrows. 

“Yogurt? I didn’t think you were the kind of person to eat that on mornings...” said Anchan

“Or as breakfast...” said Rikako,” ...wouldn’t be easier if you use a spoon?”

 

Shuka shook her head

“It’s ok, I like it like this better,” said Shuka raising the package again.

Then she lowered it once again, and sexily licked her lips, locking gazes with Nanaka who was standing behind everyone; her cheeks became wild red and she could feel something happening between her legs. 

 

_This kid is insatiable..._

 

 

Just in time came inside the teachers with the Chief of staff and of course his assistants. 

But of course, this incident wasn’t unnoticed by Aina.

 

While everybody was standing up and making noise, Aina got close to Nanaka with her eyes opened wide.

 

“Yogurt?!” said Aina almost in her loud voice, Nanaka looked at her with surprise 

“Oh–my—freaking God!” said Aina trying to calm herself 

“You guys are  _doing it!”_  she said pointing Nanaka

 

“Don’t point at me” said Nanaka with her monotone and avoiding eye contact

“Suwawa!” called Aina with her normal tone, of course, Aina’s tone wasn’t unnoticed by the rest of the members so everybody turned around to see them; Shuka with a concerned look. 

 

Nanaka was with her sleepy “Suwa face” looking to the front ignoring Aina by her side and the weird looks of everybody. 

 

“Something the matter Suzuki-San?” asked the Lead teacher 

Aina shook her head with a shy smile, then everybody returned her sight to the front where the Chief of staff and the teachers where.

Shuka looked at her a few more seconds, then gave her a sexy smile and turned around. 

 

“My God, you  _are doing it_  right?”  said Aina in a whisper voice

Nanaka just blinked a few times trying to ignore her

“Suwawa... this is not your ‘sleepy face’, you are tired as hell...” Aina kept speaking, but Nanaka didn’t look at her at all

“And she must a be a ‘ **sex machine’,**  that’s why you are so tired...Oh, do I smell sex all ove—“

“Ainya shut up!” cut Nanaka with a strong low voice, she finally locked gazes with her; Aina bit her lips.

 

“Stop it, grow up, leave it alone,” said Nanaka with a prominent frown in her sleepy “Suwa face”

“So–Sorry...” said softly Aina looking to her feet in shame

“You guys, what’s wrong?”   
Whispered Arisa with concern totally ignoring what the Chief of staff was talking 

 

“Ainya is being herself,” said Nanaka in monotone and tried to move forward to listen what was going on

Arisa looked at Aina with her big eyes with no interest at all

“Don’t be annoying?” said Arisa to Aina and followed Nanaka to the front 

Aina made a discomforted bluff and moved with them too. 

 

 

Of course, Nanaka missed every single word the Chief said as a welcome or what the hell was he doing there so early. 

Actually, she kinda hated it when he was around, that only could mean that there was some news for them, something new on the project and that right now couldn’t be that good. 

 

Finally their debut Single,  _“Kimi no Kokoro wa Kagayaiteru kai?”_  was out, its debut was on October 7th.

A month ago they started practicing the new choreography for “Step! ZERO to ONE”, the song they recorded on the training camp; just like Nanaka said, everybody sang together and there’s no solo or clear center position in it, but, just like they thought it could be, it was a fast song, even faster than their first song, so the new steps for the choreography weren’t difficult but exhausting; there was a lot of jumping and moving around that for them was a bit difficult or maybe impossible yet to dance and sing without ending out of breath. 

 

Also their third song, “Aqours☆HEROES”, was ready for them to start practicing. This song was sung within “years members”, and in some specific parts, some of the members had a few lines or a word. 

Nanaka’s case was just a lonely word; “ _Hayaku_ ”.

 

So this time the setting was kind of different, maybe on the next song, they will finally be able to sing solo parts with more words or even to say a sentence.

In any case, this song seemed to be even faster than “Step! ZERO to ONE”, so she could only imagine that singing and dancing the three songs they own in one single event would be enough to kill her by a heart attack. 

 

And if she kept her activities with Shuka, that could be even sooner. 

Like in their next rehearsal. 

 

So right now, Nanaka had enough with the practice of the two new songs and the final touches on the choreography of  _“Kimi no Kokoro wa Kagayaiteru kai?”_ , adding something else right now to the list would be suicide. 

 

 

 

Nanaka snapped out of her mind when the Chief of the staff was talking about the coming campaign at the end of the month. 

It happens that it’s not just a single event, it’s a campaign, in other words, it’s a prolonged time having events. 

 

“As I told you before on the training camp, the campaign will be held into ‘years groups’; first group, of course, will be ‘Second years’, on October 31, in Akihabara Gamers, Tokyo, just one session, that’s in a few weeks from now.” 

Said the Chief of staff and at the same time he made a sign for one of the assistants to start passing some papers to the members

 

 _Why ‘Second years’ is the ‘obvious’ group to start this thing?_  
_Why not ‘First years’?  
__Sometimes I feel like everything is around ‘Second years’_...

 

Nanaka made a bitter smile while receiving her paper; there it was written the campaign schedule and all their stops. 

 

“The campaign will be held from October 31 till December 13 with its final session with ‘Third years’.”   
Said the Chief of staff in his regular tone

 

_So, one month and a week of campaign... isn’t much, meanwhile, we will keep practicing the dances till January..._

 

Nanaka looked at her sheet of paper carefully, her first session was scheduled for November 1.

She rose her eyebrows in surprise

 

_The day before my birthday..._

 

“Well, I saw this coming...” said Aina in a soft murmur, Arisa, and Nanaka looked at her

“They will be splitting us from the beginning, no need for the subunits so far...” 

 

Nanaka clenched her fists, of course, she will be separate from Shuka from the first moment, she knew that but still, she couldn’t deny her feelings of discomfort about it, and Aina enjoying this. 

 

“So, we still have a few weeks to finish the preparations for this huge event; we will give you the uniforms the girls were wearing on the Key visual of the magazine.”

The girls exchanged some concerned looks between each other

“Girls, it’s not a big deal,” said the Chief of staff with a soft tone,” the event it’s simple; present the Single, sign some cards and smile to the fans, you don’t need to dance or anything...”

The Chief of staff changed his papers in his hands

 

“Right, next thing up, it’s...,” he checked his papers,” ...well, as you might know, the popularity pool was held into November issue of the Dengeki’s G Magazine; the character that wins it, will mean that she has the Center position on the next Single and everything that this represents.” 

 

_And what exactly is that?_

 

 

Once again the girls exchanged some concerned looks between each other, it seemed that Nanaka wasn’t the only one who was wondering that. 

With their predecessors, being the center wasn’t a big deal; Yes, maybe was because the center had the big solo in the middle of the song, and in the Live the penlights might be turned on in the image color of the character, but besides that, what was new? What made this so special?

 

“Well, you all look a bit confused,” said the Chief of staff, all the girls nodded.

“We will do things different from what we did with μ’s; now we have the opportunity to do things in a huge way, you’ll see, being the Center in a Single it’s not going to be the same that is a center in ‘minor’ songs; being the Center of a Single, means, a hole PV dedicated to that character, a campaign centred in the Single, all the attention will be focused on that character and remember, if your character is elected, that means that you are the visible face of it, so please look forward to this kind of popularity polls! If you become the Center, you will be pushing up in your careers!”

 

_Of course, all the spotlight will be on the one who wins it..._

_We are friends but rivals as well..._

_Can we make it, Kanan?_

 

 

“ I have the results of the poll, of course, it’s on this month issue...” said the Chief of staff 

The room became loud, all the girls started making noises and started talking with each other at the same time, everyone, except Nanaka...

 

Nanaka was drowned by nervousness, she bit her lips and tightened her fits almost crumpling her sheet of paper, maybe she wasn’t ready to know this kind of result. 

Even if it was a popularity poll for their characters, this will affect her as well.

 

“So, do you wanna know? Or do you prefer to buy the magazine?” asked amused the Chief of staff 

All the girls made loud sounds for the Chief to talk; he smiled wider and took out a sample of the magazine.

He slowly started to move towards the pages looking for the Love Live! section.

 

“Oh, the magazine it’s out already?” asked Aikyan to King

“It’s not out on the market yet...” answered King

“It’s gonna be out in a few days...” said Aiai nervously 

“C’mon Chief! Hurry~” whined Anchan

“Yeah this is killing me!” said Shuka nervously hitting Anchan softly on her shoulders 

“Shuka that hurts!” whined Anchan again 

 

“Ok!, I found it”  
Snapped the Chief of staff in his harsh tone, the girls all stop talking, moving or even breathing. 

“Do I say the number one first or the last one?” He asked

 

“Just say who won!” said Arisa with impatience 

“Who’s the Center?!” asked Aikyan 

The Chief of staff just smiled wider, looked at everybody, took a deep breath and said;

 

“May I congratulate ‘Watanabe You’ for winning the first popularity poll!” 

“Oh my~!” said Shuka loud, while Anchan was the first one to hug her tight 

“Yeah ‘You-Chan’!” shouted Anchan

The place became wild; lots of happy screaming, jumping and even hugging started to fill the room. 

Shuka couldn’t even believe it herself, she started crying in her spot, the girls started to clap and one by one started to congratulate her, indeed was a moment of happiness and joy. 

Nanaka just clapped in her spot looking with a shy smile at Shuka; Yes, she felt proud about Shuka, this will mean a huge step in her career, but she couldn’t go and hug her so effusive like everybody else, she has to maintain the appearance. 

 

When the noise became more manageable, the Chief of staff cleared his throat trying to gain calm once again

“Girls, girls!” tried to calm them down, “ May I continue?”

The girls tried to maintain the composure and smiled wide towards the staff

Shuka was so out of herself that she was doing little jumps in her spot showing a dorky goofy smile.

Nanaka couldn’t help but smile softly at that sight. 

 

“Ok, so, this is our first place, ‘Watanabe You’, the new Center,” he said towards Shuka, she answered by bowing

“I’m gonna list the rest of the places,” he said clearing his throat once again, all the tension grew once again, 

“Second place: ‘Kurosawa Ruby’” 

Aiai made a squeaky noise

 

“Third place; ‘Sakurauchi Riko’”

Rikako did a fist sign with a soft “Yes”

 

“Fourth place; Tsushima Yoshiko”

“Yohane” murmured Aikyan

 

“Fifth place; ‘Kunikida Hanamaru’”

King just pouted cutely 

 

“Sixth place; ‘Takami Chika’”

“Eh? Sixth?!” exclaimed Anchan surprised

 

“Seventh place; ‘Kurosawa Dia”

Arisa hummed 

 

“Eighth place; ‘Ohara Mari’”

Aina made a loud sound of disappointment 

 

“And last place, Matsuura Kanan’”

Nanaka blinked 

 

“Congratulations once again, ‘Watanabe You-chan’ you will be our new center for the  second Single!”   
Said the Chief of staff while clapping with the teachers and the assistants, the rest of the girls clapped too and continued celebrating Shuka for the triumph. 

All the girls except for one.

 

_We lost..._

_We were last..._

_I was last..._

_I failed once again..._

 

“Suwawa...?”   
Called Aina softly by her side; Nanaka blinked a few times and locked gazes with her, Aina had a sad look on her face

“I’m Sorry...” said Aina softly, Nanaka shook her head

“Don’t be,” said Nanaka softly, but then she realized that her voice was cracking; she was indeed sad.

 

Between the noises and shouting the rest of the members were doing, nobody noticed that Aina and Nanaka were with sad faces and a gloomy mood, more Nanaka than Aina of course, but for different motives; Aina was sad because Nanaka was sad, and Nanaka was sad because she failed, once again. 

 

“Hey, Hey, it’s not your fault...” said Aina softly, Nanaka just made a bitter expression and tried to hide her sadness and frustration 

“I know...” said Nanaka softly but her voice was full of pain, like if in any second she will start crying too; Aina gave her a sweet smile

 

Nanaka couldn’t help but to look somewhere else, she didn’t want to meet Aina’s pity eyes; Yes it were pity eyes, Aina knew very well how much this is costing to Nanaka, she knew very well she had problems with Kanan, with production, with the songs, with the dancing, and now...she was in the last position on the popularity poll. 

She is having problems with the fans. 

 

All of Nanaka’s insecurities came back to her like a thundershock. 

It’s not easy to keep failing at your job, even if you are trying your best. 

 

Nanaka looked at Shuka, she was still celebrating and being hugged by Anchan, indeed she was happy, for her, this means a lot of course, but...

 

“It’s like she didn’t even care...” said Aina softly

Nanaka looked at Aina with a sad face, Aina bit her lips

 

“So–Sorry, it’s not my call to say...” 

“What...what do you mean?” asked Nanaka with sadness

“While she is happy, you are suffering, and she didn’t notice it...” said Aina like a whisper

Nanaka hummed

 

It’s normal, Shuka being the kid she was, was so immersed in her own happiness to even look back at her  _girlfriend_ , who was last, who was sad, who was feeling like a failure again... but this is Shuka’s moment, not hers.

 

“This is not about me, Ainya,” said Nanaka with a calm smile,” Shuka won, she is in her right to be happy, and I’m proud of her...” 

 

_And that’s not a lie..._

 

“But, Suwawa–“ tried Aina

“It’s ok Ainya, it’s her moment, let her be,” said Nanaka with a tiny smile on her face; Aina gave her a sad smile and softly she caressed Nanaka’s arm

“You have a big heart”

Nanaka hummed

 

“Well, to bad for ‘Third years’ right?” said Arisa coming back from congratulating Shuka towards Aina and Nanaka 

“Yeah, seems that we aren’t that popular...” said Aina recovering her amused tone

“Well, it makes sense, our characters are not featured often for the fans to know them better,” said Arisa with her diligent tone

“Yes, it’s always ‘Second years’” said Nanaka with bitterness 

“I’m surprised that ‘Chika-chan’ was sixth, I thought that she might win this thing,” said Arisa

“Well, maybe that’s why she didn’t win; because it’s obvious?” asked Aina

“Doesn’t bother you?” asked Nanaka to Arisa; she just blinked 

“What?”

“Being seventh... not winning...” said softly Nanaka, maybe too shy to even ask; Aina looked at her with concern 

 

Arisa blinked a few times thinking in her answer, then she said with her diligent tone;

“Well, of course, it does, but I’m happy about Shuka too. I get why you are asking this, Suwa-san, you haven’t failed in this, all ‘Third years’ were at the bottom of the poll,  because of what I said before, it’s not ‘our’ fault, the fans don’t even know us, they saw the characters in the magazine, where you can’t see a thing about the character’s charm, they don’t know your ‘Kanan-san’s’ voice, so I hope you are not thinking that this is another mark of your failures on this project.”

Nanaka bit her lips, Aina laughed 

 

“She is totally right,” said Aina with a bright smile

“Of course it makes me sad that ‘Dia-chan’ got so down on the poll, this makes me realised that I have to do better, for her, for me, so in the campaign I have to shine more for the fans to know the real ‘Dia-chan’ and later to vote and cherish for her...”

“Besides, Suwawa, we are nine, and there’s only one spot as the center, someone of us has to win, and the rest must lose, it is what it is,” said Aina with a resignation tone

“We are rivals too uh?” finished Nanaka with a low tone

“Certainly,” said Aina keeping her smile

 

The Chief of staff made everyone quiet once again, so all the girls remained still for a few moments

 

“Thank you, you will have plenty of time to keep celebrating Saito-san’s victory, but I must continue”

Everybody nodded. 

“As I said before, being the Center in this opportunity will be slightly different from what we did before, right now we want to make things huge, we have the budget to do it, so we will; Saito–san, we are counting on you from now on”

 

Shuka bowed, and everybody clapped again.

 

“And talking about doing things different from μ’s, let’s talk about Subunits”  
Said the Chief of staff and instantly the ambient changed abruptly. 

 

One thing was being divided into ‘years groups’ and the other thing was making the conflictive Subunits that Nanaka, Shuka, and Aina were so afraid of. 

And maybe everybody was afraid; making Subunits means of making new combinations with the cast members, forcing them to make a group with people that maybe they weren’t close enough yet, like in Nanaka’s case, Arisa Komiya. 

 

The girls remained silent.

 

“With μ’s, Subunits didn’t have enough spotlights, it was like, just another part of the project, but now for the Sunshine project, we want to make Subunits important.”

 

Nanaka swallowed hard. 

 

“While Aqours will be like a big Family for you, the Subunit you will be chosen to join with will be your second family; that means that the moments you are not as a full member group, you will be with your Subunit”

 

Nanaka clenched her fits once again. 

 

_If I don’t end up in the same Subunit as Shuka, my time with her will be so limited! Because I will have to divide time with the full cast, year cast and now Subunit cast..._

 

“So, in order to have the best on this matter, we had closely made the right combinations for the Subunits poll of next issue of the Magazine; remember that the fans are those who are going to vote”

Said the Chief of staff at the same time one of his assistants started to passing on new sheets of paper to the girls, it was actually copies of 2 sheets of the current issue of the magazine.

 

Nanaka received her papers with a nervous smile this time, of course, she was afraid, what kind of twisted combinations these people made for them; she greeted 6 different configurations for the Subunits.

 

Her eyes moved faster than light to spot Kanan in the different patterns. 

 

“We thought carefully about it; we designed this six patterns mixing your vocal skills, your characters profiles and yours profile.” 

Continued the Chief of staff while the girls were searching for their own character in the papers, making sounds of amusement from time to time 

“We wanted balanced subunits, so we took our time debating about the right combinations...”

 

“What about the subunits leaders?” asked Arisa almost interrupting the Chief

 

Everybody stopped looking at their papers and turned straight to Arisa; Nanaka bite her lips 

 

_Yes, what about them...?_

 

The Chief of staff sighed softly 

 

“Well, that’s tricky...” he started but Arisa interrupted him again

“In μ’s, the leaders were ‘Honoka-san’, ‘Umi-san’ and ‘Eli-san”, from this and some visuals keys, the fans voted about Subunits, how is that going to work for us?”

Everybody shared some looks 

 

“I guess, ‘Chika-chan’ it’s gonna be the leader of the first subunit, no question about it,” said Aiai 

“Well she is the main character and leader of Aqours...” said Aikyan 

“She’s the new ‘Honoka-san’” said King with some sadness in her tone, Anchan shrugged in her spot.

 

“I can’t say she is the ‘main character’, we all are the main charac–“ tried to speak Anchan but was heavily interrupted 

“Don’t say nonsense, ‘Chika-chan’ is the main character” said Arisa

 

Nanaka turned her attention towards the Chief of staff; he had his lips sealed and a corky smile, he was just watching how the girls were debating without listening or paying attention to him.

Then she frowned. 

 

_This is not right..._

 

“But she must be the leader of one of the units!” said Aiai again 

“Then, who is the new ‘Umi-san’?” asked Rikako

“Must be a ‘Second year’ as well..,” said Shuka, “ I believe it’s ‘Riko-chan’” 

“‘Riko-chan’? Why?” asked Rikako

“I dunno! Maybe because she has long hair and it’s strict like ‘Umi-chan’” said Shuka again

“That makes sense! She is shy too, besides, ‘You-chan’ seemed to be like the one who follows, like ‘Kotori-san’” added Aiai

“Yeah! She is in charge of making the outfits too!” said Shuka happily 

“So ‘You-chan’ it’s the new ‘Kotori-chan’, meaning that ‘Riko-chan’ is the new ‘Umi-chan’, so, the second leader must be ‘Riko-chan’” sentenced Aiai

 

Nanaka frowned, this was ridiculous.

She looked at the patterns once again; indeed Chika was at the front of every pattern of the first row, she was going to be the leader of the first subunit whoever the two other members would be

 

_A subunit with Anchan..._

_Ok..._

 

“Then what about ‘Third years’?” said Arisa, “ if we are guiding us because μ’s, then who is the new ‘Eli-san’?

“I bet for ‘Kanan-san’, she has the ponytail!” said Aikyan quickly

“And it’s the group choreographer,” said Shuka

“But she is not the student council president! “ said Arisa quickly, “ it’s ‘Dia-san’” 

“I think that’s not important,” said Aina cutting Arisa’s smile

 

Nanaka blinked a few times; was Aina defending Kanan’s leadership because Dia’s already had the ‘Third years’ leadership? Meaning that Aina was defending Nanaka from Arisa?

 

“What about ‘Mari-san’? She is blonde too” asked Anchan

“Are you kidding?” said King looking at Aina, “‘Mari-san’ it’s like a constant joke, I can’t see her being the leader” 

“Hey!” shouted Aina

“She is like the teaser, like ‘Nozomi-san’?” added King

“So, it’s between ‘Kanan-san’ and ‘Dia-san’?” asked Shuka

 

Everybody looked at Nanaka and Arisa

While Arisa looked serious and eager of having a new leadership, Nanaka was with her sleepy “Suwa face” blinking slowly without caring a damn thing about all of this. 

 

“Clearly no ‘First year’ can be the leader,” said Aikyan

“It doesn’t make any sense about a ‘First year’ leading anyway,” said Arisa

“Hey! That’s rude” said King

“Think about it, these are teens of 15 years old, how a teen of ‘First year’ could be the leader of a ‘Third year’, for example,” said Arisa with a “matter of fact” tone. 

“You have a point,” said Aiai, “ and also their personalities...’Ruby-chan’ is too shy, ‘Hanamaru-chan’ is too insecure and ‘Yoshiko-chan’ is too weird”

“Yohane!” snapped Aikyan 

“See?” finished Aiai

 

Nanaka frowned once again and looked her paper; the patterns were 6 columns with the 9 characters separated into groups of 3.  Chika was always in the first row of 3 in every single pattern, so it was obvious that she was the leader of the first unit, the other two characters that repeated themselves in the first position of the second and third row was Riko and Kanan. 

Then she recalled when Sakurako Kimino said that the leaders of the units would be Chika, Riko, and Kanan.

 

_Then, all this conversation it’s pointless..._

 

She looked at the Chief of staff, he was amused and amazed about all the debating the girls were doing, the dance teachers were also very entertained about it, the creepy assistant was fervently taking notes while the last of the assistants smiled sweetly at them. 

Nanaka deadpanned

 

_This is ridiculous._

 

She looked at the patterns once again; the only condition for Riko and Kanan to lose their leadership in the unit it’s to be with Chika in the first unit, then the character that took that spot was Dia, and in one single case, You. 

So what made the staff took this decision?  Is it because of characters personalities or the cast ones?

Can Shuka be a leader? 

Certainly not, but maybe You can, that’s why she is like a fifth option. 

But Arisa is the fourth option when Riko or Kanan wasn’t in the first spot, because Dia is a diligent character as well as Arisa, so it fit. And it’s a “Third year”.

 

So there are some conditions to fulfill the “leader spot”; being a ‘Second year’ or a ‘Third year’, the character must fit in personality and then the _Seiyuu_ must fit too. 

 

No ‘First year’ was an option of leader because maybe Arisa was right, it can’t be, and Mari wasn’t in the first spot of any of the patterns because, both Mari and Aina didn’t fit into that role, Mari being a constant joke and Aina... well, it’s Aina. 

In Kanan’s case, the character fits but not her _Seiyuu,_ so in that case, Dia was the character that should be there in the first spot, not Kanan. 

But we already know that this was a mistake from production; they designed another Kanan and have now a new Kanan. 

 

_Because ‘Kanan’ was supposed to be the new ‘Eli’..._

_Wait a minute._

 

Nanaka snapped out of her mind and looked up out of the sheet of paper; she was missing the whole debate that now turned out to be a pursuit of the similarities between Aqours members and μ’s members so she frowned listening to Anchan’s words;

 

“...but guys, seriously, who is the new ‘Nico-chan’ then? Certainly can’t be ‘Dia-sama’” 

“That must be Yoshi—“ tried King 

“What nonsense are you talking about Anchan?! Everyone?!”  
Said finally Nanaka with clear annoyance in her voice, her tone being low and harsh. Everybody shut up and looked at her with eyes opened wide

Nanaka looked at them with her prominent frown

 

“This is nonsense” she repeated herself again” this isn’t Love Live!, this is Love Live! Sunshine! There’s no ‘new Honoka’ or a ‘new Eli’; guys, you are acting the way we don’t want the fans to act! And that is to compare μ’s with US! WE Are not μ’s! We can’t be μ’s and we won’t be! But if you are comparing us with them, with the characters, what it’s left for the fans? They definitely will compare us with them!” 

 

Everybody kept silence and looked at Nanaka with concern; she was right. 

 

“Maybe this time Subunits wouldn’t need a leader, and all of you are taking conclusion about something that μ’s did, why should we repeat the same path? Aren’t we here to step out of their shadow?” 

 

The girls looked at their shoes in shame while the Chief of staff started clapping. Then everybody looked at him like remembering that he was there with the teachers and the assistants, all of them forgotten. 

 

“Well, I couldn’t say it better Suwa-san,” said the Chief of staff stopping his claps 

“But I must say that it was really interesting watching all of you debating about this matter, but I’m afraid that Suwa-san is right” 

 

Shuka smiled at Nanaka proudly, like saying “that’s my girl”, Aina gave her a coy smile, while Arisa gave her a serious look. Anchan had a sad face, maybe she as the leader should have noticed that instead of Nanaka. 

 

“So, May I continue...?” said the Chief of staff, everybody nodded. 

 

While he started talking about the importance of the Subunits and how they meticulously designed the patterns about balance, characters and performance, Nanaka’s attention came back to the papers and the patterns. 

 

Of course, for her this wasn’t new, and her way to find this out was actually failing in her job and not being the Kanan production designed in the first place, that’s why she got the information that Chika, Riko, and Kanan were supposed to be the leaders of the Subunits, and the reason that this is not Love Live! But Love Live! Sunshine, was the reason that she could keep her job because Sakurako Kimino defended the fact of having a new Kanan more than having a ‘new Eli’.

 

So maybe this time there ain’t gonna be leaders for the Subunits because one of the designated characters to be one of them is not going to fit like that. 

And the only way to find out is to have the poll and see; if the pattern that wins had Kanan as the first spot in the row, they will not have leaders for Subunits. But it happens that the pattern that wins have Dia instead, maybe they will announce the Subunits' leaders. 

 

Or maybe they will deliberate miss the fact that maybe this time Subunits don’t need leaders in a way to step out of μ’s shadow. Like doing something different from their predecessors. 

But then, why they arranged the patterns with Chika, Riko, and Kanan using the first spots in the rows?

It didn’t make any sense. 

 

“The result of this poll will be on the next issue magazine, so look forward to it.”  
Finished the Chief of staff

 

Nanaka blinked furiously snapping out of her mind, missing all the last part of the speech. 

The only thing she got from all of this was: Shuka won the Center for the second Single, she failed again being last in the popularity poll, Subunits will be like a second family, they deliberated made the patterns thinking about the characters and them, there are no leaders yet for this and she is doomed if she ended up with Arisa on it. 

 

The Chief of staff said goodbye and left with one of his assistants, the creepy one stayed in her spot, while the Lead teacher finally could start her class. 

 

Nanaka walked towards her stuff in order to put away the sheets with the patterns, not after giving it another critical look. 

 

_Well then, Kanan shares one pattern with Dia, just ONE, how are the odds for THAT pattern to win?!_

_Then, Kanan shares two patterns with You, TWO! This must be fate..._

_And there’s only one pattern that Kanan shares with Mari...and it’s one of the same pattern that shares with You, this is odd... wait a minute..._

 

Nanaka looked carefully pattern number one, it catches her eye, it was like the staff did this pattern based on the interactions of the Seiyuus. 

 

First unit was, Chika, Yoshiko, and Ruby; meaning, Anchan, Aikyan and Aiai.

The usual members fooling around, missing King, but still, these 3 were always fooling around mocking about Anchan basically. 

 

Second unit was, Riko, Dia and Hanamaru; meaning, Rikako, Arisa and King.

Arisa’s súper friends, they were very close to each other. King and Arisa knew themselves from before and of course, Arisa and Rikako were always together since this project started.

 

And third unit was, Kanan, You and Mari, meaning, Nanaka, Shuka and Aina

The problematic trio. No need to explain this. 

 

Nanaka’s heart skipped a beat. 

A Subunit with the two of them; that could be rather heaven or hell, and she will be always the conflicted point.

 

Nanaka put the sheets away and returned back to the center of the room to start the practice. 

Another thing that caught her eye, was that there wasn’t any pattern with Kanan, Dia and Riko, meaning no subunit with Arisa, Rikako and her. 

 

_That would be too boring for them to make..._

 

But, there’s nothing else to do now. The patterns were made and in a few days, the magazine would be out for the fans to start voting about Subunits. 

Like the popularity poll, there’s nothing that she can do about it, but hope for the fans to vote wisely and carefully to define her future. 

Her fate at the hands of full strangers. 

 

.

 

Practice hours became longer since the new songs were introduced into the dance routine, also their schedules. 

So now their time inside the Lantis building became from one morning practice to at least a full day rehearsal. 

This happened because the girls still hadn’t enough training, not because of the choreography, actually, the choreography for the 2 new songs weren’t difficult, but had a lot of jumping on it, and this was crucial because they couldn’t sing without lacking air. 

 

As for the choreography of _“Kimi no Kokoro wa Kagayaiteru kai?”,_ the only thing that was left to mastering this was Aina’s leapfrog, she was still having problems with it but she could manage to make a side jump “mimicking” a leapfrog and almost run to the center with Nanaka to join hands for Shuka to make the jump in almost exactly synchronisation with the animation PV. 

 

But at least that song was almost ready to be performed; the other 2 were still “work in progress”. 

Even though it should be “easier” than the first one because there wasn’t any PV to look or synchronize with, so there shouldn’t be great details to look up for, the thing about singing and dancing was giving them a hard time, especially Nanaka.

 

The setlist was in the same order as the cd;  _“Kimi no Kokoro wa Kagayaiteru kai?”_ , “Step! ZERO to ONE” and “Aqours☆HEROES”. The third song being the fastest and hardest due the extenuating jumping gave Nanaka a hard time because for her only line in the song, she was at the verge of fainting...so she never reached the tone.

 

“Ok, stop!” shouted the Lead teacher with a heavy clap; the other teacher stopped the music 

 

All the girls stopped dryly in their spots with troubled faces, sweat running from their temples and with heavy pantings; everybody looked around with concern, why stopping the music in the middle of the song? Who messed up this time?

 

“‘Kanan-san!’” said the Lead teacher with her harsh tone, “ What’s wrong? It was your line”

Everybody turned around, “Third years” was behind in the choreography, but Nanaka was on her knees 

 

“I’m...I’m... sorry...” said Nanaka with almost no audible voice

“What?!” shouted the Lead teacher

“Suwa-san get up” whispered Arisa quickly at her side

“I can’t...” whispered Nanaka back; she was panting hard, her hands on the floor, her eyes were shut tight

 

“Get up,” said the Lead teacher, but Nanaka just couldn’t 

 

The girls started to look at each other with concern, Arisa looked down at Nanaka with her expressive eyes still whispering to her to stand up, but she stopped when she felt Aina grabbed her arm; Arisa turned her sight towards Aina, she just shook her head for Arisa to stop doing that. 

 

Aina moved faster towards Nanaka and kneel down with her

 

“Suwawa, you ok?” asked Aina with a soft voice

Nanaka didn’t answer 

“Suwa-san! We are waiting” said the Lead teacher in her harsh tone

“Please Sensei!” called Aina with her loud tone, everybody snapped in their spots. 

“Can we take 5 minutes? She can’t go on, and we can’t continue if someone of us can’t” 

There was some anger in her tone, but she tried to be polite, the Lead teacher rose her eyebrows 

 

Aina looked for Anchan’s support with her big and lovely eyes; Anchan nodded

“Sensei, please” asked Anchan with a soft tone

 

The Lead teacher looked at Anchan with a serious face, then she looked at Aina, and then she sighed softly. 

She slowly walked thru the girls till reaching “Third years” spot; she stood right in front of Aina and Nanaka, Aina swallowed hard 

 

“Suwa-san...” called the Lead teacher, “ I said, stand-up” 

“Sens–“ tried Anchan and Aina at the same time but they were interrupted but the Lead teacher 

“UP!” she shouted 

 

Nanaka shivered in her spot; Aina did stand up in a flash just for the shout. 

 

Nanaka took some seconds to hold on her shit; she took a deep breath and slowly stood up, her face red from the extreme training, panting heavily, covered on sweat and her legs shaking

 

“Good,” said the Lead teacher 

 Nanaka didn’t say a thing, she didn’t even move, maybe she didn’t even breath; the Lead teacher was looking straight at her, with an angry face

 

“I hate to repeat myself, so when I do say something I expect to be followed; the instructions are clear, do you get it?” asked the Lead teacher, Nanaka nodded softly 

“This are just three songs, how do you expect to sing on your first Live? you need to work hard!”

Nanaka bit her lips and clenched her fists 

 

_I...I’m... I am working hard!_

 

“It seems that this for you is just a game, you are not taking this seriously; we can’t accept someone who’s not taking this like that, you are just slowing your mates down, and I can’t accept that”  
Said the Lead teacher without taking her eyes out of Nanaka’s 

 

“Do you wanna quit?, because if you want to quit, this is your chance, I’m done with this,” she continued, Nanaka just clenched her fist in frustration but never changing her “Suwa face”

“First was your low stamina, then the leapfrog, now you can’t sing while dancing; girl, what are you doing here?”

 

Nanaka frowned, she could clearly see how her teammates shared concerned looks with each other, Shuka had a sad face. 

Aina too, she was looking at Nanaka with her big eyes full of tears, she often exchanged looks with Anchan, like begging her to interrupt the Lead teacher’s speech, but Anchan was equally helpless like everybody else; no matter what they say, the Lead teacher would shut them out of this, she had enough of Nanaka’s behaviour, and they knew it. 

 

“I’m...I’m... I am working hard...” said Nanaka with a soft tone, almost out of breath 

“Are you?!” asked the Lead teacher loud

“Yes...”

“If being the last one of the popularity poll it’s ‘working hard’, then you are not working hard enough!” Said the Lead teacher with clear annoyance in her voice, Nanaka tightened her lips, she could hear Shuka gasping, like if it was a revelation for her that her  _girlfriend_ was last while she was first. 

 

“I’m sorry, I’ll work harder...” said Nanaka with a tired tone but determined 

“You bet! Do you wanna make ‘Kanan-chan’ proud?”

“Yes...”

“I don’t believe you, ain’t buying it...” said the Lead teacher, then she took away her gaze out of Nanaka’s and looked at everybody “ ain’t buying that from any of you...”

 

Everybody looked surprised 

 

“From now on I want everybody to use your characters' colours or merch, I want to see the characters here being one with you, I want to believe that every single one of you is really committed to this project, I wanna feel ‘Kanan-chan’ here!” said the Lead teacher looking at Nanaka, then she looked at Anchan, “I wanna feel ‘Chika-Chan’s’ leadership,” 

Then she looked at everyone while naming their respective character

“I wanna feel ‘Ruby-chan’s’ sweetness, ‘Hanamaru-chan’s’ kindness, ‘Yoshiko-chan’s’ weirdness, ‘Dia-san’s’ strong will, ‘Mari-san’s’ energy, ‘You-chan’s’ charisma and ‘Riko-chan’s’ diligence; I see none of that here, I just see young Seiyuus memorising dance steps,” she looked back at Nanaka, “ and that is not enough, your ponytail is not enough”

 

Everybody remained silent, some of the girls even looked at their feet in almost shame

 

“Am I clear?!” asked loud the Lead teacher 

Everybody said a loud “Yes” with determination 

“Good, class dismissed! Get out of here!” finished the Lead teacher with annoyance and walked away towards the other teacher who looked surprised

 

Nanaka closed her eyes tightly 

 

_Dear good Lord!_

 

“Suwawa you ok?” asked Aina softly

 “Yeah... I guess...she is not wrong though...” said Nanaka softly opening her eyes

“Osuwa!” said Shuka approaching energetically to Nanaka, “ Are you ok?”

Nanaka looked at her with sweet eyes, then she realized that everyone was around her, asking if she was ok

 

_This...what’s this?..._

 

All of them had concerned looks and tried to speak at the same time having new ideas of how should they train or be more effective because of lacking of air between dances and signing; everyone was worried, everyone was concerned. 

 

_They care..._

 

Nanaka smiled sweetly to everyone, sightly nodding from time to time, this was the sense of camaraderie that Arisa was speaking back in camp. A few months ago they just left the Lead teacher screw on one of them and then they continued their life like if nothing happened. 

Now it’s true that they couldn’t stand against the Lead teacher because she is their superior and they need to follow instructions, but the support after that was priceless and very welcoming.

 

All the girls left the room with their towels and bottles in hand talking about the practice, Nanaka was at the end of the line almost crawling herself out, she couldn’t cross the door threshold.

 

“Suwa-san” called the Lead teacher, Nanaka stopped dryly on her spot looking back at the teachers 

“I do not want to be bitchy with you ... but you really need to do better ... "

 

Nanaka tried to put herself together once again, she took a deep breath and turned around towards her teachers

 

“I know,” said Nanaka slowly

“Give her some credit,” said the other teacher, “ she really has improved”

“Yes, but it’s not enough,” said the Lead teacher walking towards Nanaka

 

“All of you are in a terrible position; being μ’s replacement it’s not gonna be easy, that’s how the fans will perceive all of you; μ’s left a hugely high standard, we can’t accept less than that, you get it?”

Nanaka nodded softly, of course, she knew all of that, but that’s not an excuse to criticise her in front of everyone

 

“I want the best for all of you, that’s why I’m hard on you because you are being left behind...” finished the Lead teacher

Nanaka nodded once again and then bowed softly 

“Thanks so much, please bear with me,” said Nanaka and she left the room. 

 

She understands, of course, she does, the teachers are doing their jobs, they want this project to be successful and even better than the last one, and she being part of it, is not doing a good job. 

Of course, she had improved lots, at the beginning singing and dancing just one song was enough, not to mention all that she had to struggle with the leapfrog, but now she can manage to survive at least two songs, the third one was a little bit complicated, but still she has three and half month to master that. 

Would she?

 

Nanaka entered into the changing room; she tried to ignore all the fuss inside, so like in autopilot she managed to take her sweaty clothes off and get inside the shower abstracting herself out of the world. 

 

When she got out of the showers wrapped with her towel, she could see her teammates already changing to their normal outfits, everybody except for ‘First years’. They were sitting on one of the benches in the middle of the changing room, King was in the middle with her phone while Aikyan and Aiai were sitting beside her, they were making a lot of noise, as per usual, but this time was because King was playing a rhythm game, Nanaka could totally recognise the song, was μ’s’s song, so that totally means that they were playing SIF.

 

Nanaka walked at her pace to her locker trying to ignore the goofy trio

 

“Dude, you totally suck,” said Aiai to King 

“Shut up” defended King

“You miss that note again, are you sure you are a gamer?” said Aikyan 

“I can’t concentrate with both of you talking,” said King with annoyance 

“Those are excuses— oh-oh you missed again!” squeaked Aiai

“Oh just shut up!”

“You totally lost!” said Aikyan laughing 

 

Nanaka opened her locker and started drying herself up until she recognized Shuka’s voice into the conversation 

 

“Yo, in which level were you playing?” 

“Normal,” said King

“I thought you were a gamer,” said Shuka again

“I am! but not a mobile gamer, this thing it’s quite difficult” said King with annoyance 

“Why is that?” asked Shuka walking toward ‘First years’

“Well you need lots of coordination, and hopefully long fingers to reach every note,” said King with an amused tone

 

Nanaka just finished to put her underwear on when she heard Shuka again

 

“Oh, well, That’s because you haven’t seen Osuwa play,” 

 Nanaka grabbed her deodorant

 

_Shuka, please think twice your next sentence..._

 

“Eh?! What about it?” asked Aiai in her squeaky tone

“You will be amazed the _wonders_ she does with her fingers~,” said Shuka finally 

 

Nanaka’s deodorant felt making a loud thump on the floor, luckily for her, she wasn’t the only one who dropped something; Aina’s cosmetic bag was on the floor too.

Nanaka shared some looks with Aina, both catching their dropped stuff from the floor, while Nanaka had her “Suwa face”, Aina was with her eyes opened wide in discomfort. 

 

“Eh? Really?” asked Aikyan

“Yeah, she is like a pro,” said Shuka happily 

“Really? Is she that good?” asked King

“Oh, Yeah, she is amazing,” said Shuka again

 

Nanaka felt her ears becoming wild red; she couldn’t even think straight anymore, was Shuka talking about her SIF skills or her sex skills? 

Well, this is Shuka we are talking about, she is a kid and innocence was bless, but lately, she has been more sexual confident about it...

 

_Hey! This is not the time for this!_

 

Nanaka finished to put on her deodorant and started getting dressed. The thing that was clear for her was that at least Aina understood the same thing as her. 

 

“Yo, Suwawa,” called King from her seat, Nanaka turned around to lock gazes with her

“Here Shuka said you are a pro with SIF, it’s that true?” 

Nanaka was buttoning her blouse calmly 

 

“Well, I guess I’m average...” said Nanaka softly

“Nonsense!” snapped Shuka, “ come here and show them”

“Eh? Really?” said Nanaka with a tired tone, she wasn’t even in the mood for that

“Yes, come, she said you are better than me,” said King offering her phone to Nanaka

“That’s not so hard though...” said Aiai, but she was ignored 

 

Nanaka walked towards them in her pace, took the phone and sat beside Aiai

“Ok, so which mode were you playing at?” asked Nanaka with her monotone 

“Normal” answered King

Nanaka hummed, and with quick fingers, she set up the game

“I’m gonna play in expert, is that ok?” said Nanaka without even looking up

“Expert?!” said Aikyan

“Told ya she is a pro!” snapped Shuka

 

The game started and like Shuka said Nanaka’s fingers were quick and on point, she didn’t even miss a note, she was so focused on the game that she missed all the teasing and the conversation around her, she was focused on one thing; never miss a note. 

The song ended and the total score was madness, the mood in the changing room was too; when Nanaka looked up, all members were around her commenting how good she was. 

She smiled softly. 

 

“See? She is a pro!” said Shuka proudly 

“Suwa-pro!” said Aiai

“Well, you were right,” said King having her phone back 

“Maybe that’s her specialty, being a SIF pro,” said Aikyan

“How is that gonna help her in the project?” said Arisa with her diligent tone, everybody shut up

“You Really are a party pooper...” said Rikako softly at her side

“Hey I’m not!” tried Arisa

“That was amazing Suwawa!” Said Anchan 

“Told ya, she has great fingers!” said Shuka proud again 

“Yeah, how did you know about them?” asked Aina with a smug tone, also with a weird smile on her face

 

Nanaka tightened her grip on the hem of her blouse, then she realised that she was still halfway of getting dressed, she looked up to their teammates; Shuka had a nervous smile, Arisa bit her lips while sending Aina some deathly glares, and everyone else was really curious of how on earth Shuka knew that Suwawa was an expert in SIF...

 

Or how she knew about how her fingers were that _good._..and made _wonderful things_...

 

Maybe this was the right moment to tell everybody what the hell was going on, that now they are officially a couple and well, happens that Nanaka had wonderful fingers. 

 

Shuka and Nanaka shared looks; Shuka was nervous, she even started to stutter, Nanaka had her “Suwa face”, everything under control

 

_She is not ready to tell them yet..._

 

“Well,” said Nanaka standing up,” I caught her playing SIF the other day,” she said calmly while walking to her locker 

“She sucked...” 

She took out her girly skirt and started to put it on

“She lend me her phone and I played, that’s all” Nanaka finished at the same time she finished to put on her skirt, then she gave a deathly glare to Aina as well

 

_That wasn’t nice..._

 

Her story had some soft “Oh” from the girls, Shuka laughed nervously 

“Yeah, well I sucked...” 

With that, everybody started chitchatting and making noise again, Shuka walked towards her locker that it was indeed next to Nanaka’s.

 

“I’m sorry...” whispered Shuka

“Why are you apologizing for?” said Nanaka putting everything away in her bag

“Well,” Shuka closed the locker with a loud thump, “ I think, everything...?” 

Nanaka turned around and looked at her with a frown 

“Eh?” 

“Osuwa I didn’t notice you were last on the poll, I couldn’t defend you, actually it was Aina who tried to defend you...” she said supporting her back in the lockers with annoyance, “ and now, Jesus, I talked too much about your fingers...”

“And the yogurt thing...” said Nanaka returning her sight back to her bag 

“Oh...the...oh— crap!” Shuka snapped 

“It’s ok, that was kind of sexy...” said Nanaka looking at Shuka with a sexy grin, “ but, it made Aina jealous...” 

“Eh? Why?” whispered Shuka getting close to Nanaka

“She thinks we are _doing it._..” said Nanaka with a whisper too

“But we are...”

“But she didn’t know...”

“Oh... ok...” said Shuka returning to her position against the lockers

 

Nanaka finished with her locker and closed the door, she started to do her hair into some cute pigtails.

“Shuka, congratulations on winning the poll,” said Nanaka softly with a gentle smile on her face, Shuka smiled wide, but soon her smile faded

“But Osuwa...you—?”

“Stop it” interrupted Nanaka, “ I was last, I know, don’t worry... I’m happy for you, I really am... you deserve it! You will do it great as a center” 

“But Osuwa—“ tried Shuka but Nanaka just couldn’t let her

“Don’t worry about me, Shuka, remember we are rivals too, I have to work harder with ‘Kanan’ if we want to move forward from the last spot, it’s normal, the Center position is just for one of us, who knows, maybe next time it’s gonna be my turn” 

Nanaka giggled, Shuka smiled softly

“About not defending me, well you shouldn’t, I don’t want you to stand out for me, I can do it by myself; the Lead teacher was right, I need to do it better, and I’ll work harder, I have everyone here supporting me...”

She grabbed her bag and looked at everyone in the changing room; the place was noisy of course, mostly because of ‘First years’ still fooling around, this time mocking Anchan, Arisa and Rikako seemed in their own world and Aina was finishing with her own clothes

 

“About Aina,” started Nanaka, she softly looked at Shuka, “ I know she cares about me, but in a twisted way, I think... I can’t get her, she wants to support us but then she said those kinds of things...”

“Yeah, I don’t get it either... what’s wrong with her?” said Shuka a bit mad

“But, it’s ok sweetie, we can take it...”

Shuka nodded

 

Nanaka smiled sweetly at her and then she walked to the exit 

“Eh? Are you leaving?”

Asked Shuka loud, it was loud enough for the rest of the girls to look at them and stop their chitchat. Nanaka stopped her steps and looked at her

“Yeah, gotta go, I have to buy some green clothes...” said Nanaka in her monotone, Shuka snorted

“Then I’ll go with you~,” said Shuka happily walking towards her, Nanaka smiled softly

“Well, see you guys!” said goodbye Shuka with an energetic wave, Nanaka just bowed politely at them and they left the changing room.

 

 

They walked at Nanaka’s pace thru the corridor, mostly in silence until Shuka interrupted the moment. 

 

“Ne, Suwa-san,” she called softly, Nanaka looked at her with a gentle sight

“Yes, Shuka?” 

“Can... can I stay at your place today?” asked Shuka with shyness, Nanaka opened her eyes wide

 

_Dear good Lord, she wants to do it again?!_

 

“Eh? Why is that?” asked Nanaka with some nervousness, then she looked at Shuka, she had a sad face, “ Eh, don’t get me wrong, I love your company, but... I dunno, it’s weekday, tomorrow I have to be early to record for my radio show...”

Shuka laughed softly 

“My, Osuwa, I just want to spend more time with you...I thought we could go over some of the new choreography... or exercise a bit of the vocal...” said Shuka shyly 

“Oh, I see...” 

 

Both exited the Lantis building walking toward the station. 

“So...?” asked Shuka again, “ Can I?” 

Nanaka grabbed Shuka’s hand lovely and entwined their fingers

“O—Osuwa...?”

Shuka stopped her footsteps dryly looking at Nanaka in awe tightening her grip in Nanaka’s hand

“Are you sure?...”

“I want to spend more time with you too,” said Nanaka softly and continued walking, Shuka followed thru with a big and wide smile

“Is that a yes?” asked Shuka amused

“Of course sweetie, my parents aren’t at home...and I think you deserved a proper congratulations from me...in privet.

Shuka chuckled

 

They walked with their hands entwined until reaching the train platform, this time was Nanaka who interrupted the moment. 

 

“Shuka,” she called softly, Shuka gave her a wide smile 

“What is it?”

“I have two questions, please be honest with your answers,” said Nanaka softly, Shuka rose her eyebrows and her smile faded

“Sure, Osuwa what’s wrong?”

“Why are you still helping me with the dances?” 

“What?” asked Shuka incredulous 

Nanaka looked at her with a shy smile, her ears red of embarrassment 

“Don’t ask me to repeat it again...”

Shuka chuckled again, then she looked at Nanaka with lovely eyes

 

“Suwawa, I care about you; and I said that I couldn’t stand to see the Lead teacher messing with you again, which happened today, and I couldn’t do anything about it” said Shuka with bitterness, looking away from Nanaka’s eyes, “it bothers me, I want to help you, not just because you are my _girlfriend_  but because we are also teammates, Aqours is one, we should move along like that...”

 

_I’m her girlfriend..._

 

“That’s why I’m not gonna stop helping you with the dances, I want you to improve, to be better...let’s be better together!” finished Shuka with a big grin on her face looking at Nanaka

She answered that smile with a shy one

“Ok! Next question!” said Shuka with energy

 

The train came to the station making a lot of noise. The girls waited patiently till they could aboard it, it was almost rush hour so it was crowded. 

They end up very close to each other, almost like hugging. 

 

“This is nice...you smell nice...” murmured Shuka

Nanaka unconsciously hugged her tight against her

“Shuka...” she called, Shuka instantly looked up at her

“Yes...? Oh yeah, next question...”

“We... I mean... mmm” Nanaka tried but she was having a hard time trying to find the words, Shuka smiled at her

“C’mon! What is it?” insisted Shuka, Nanaka started caressing her back softly

“Well, ok... hum, Shuka, are we a couple right?” asked Nanaka almost like a whisper

 

_Ok, that sounded so stupid..._

 

Shuka separated from Nanaka’s chest slowly looking at her with a prominent frown on her face

“What?!, that’s your question?” asked Shuka with a surprised tone

“No, well, yeah...I mean...”

“Osuwa!”

“Yes yes, we are, but, what I mean, is...God!, when are we going to tell the others?” said Nanaka finally 

“Oh...” said Shuka slowly and returning to Nanaka’s chest

Then they fell into silence for about two stations. 

 

Nanaka looked at the trains stop map, seeing that there were a few more stops left from the commercial district she tried to hurry up the conversation, once they were shopping the conversation will drift somewhere else. 

She understood that Shuka might have some doubts, she had hers too, but they had enjoyed this “secret and forbidden” love for a while and it’s taking them to _lie_ to the members or being caught in some awkward conversation like the one they had in the changing room...

So how long can they keep up the lie and the secret? This project is a long-term thing, can they do it for almost five years?

 

“Shuka...” called Nanaka softly, “ I know it’s hard but we agreed—“

“I know...” Shuka interrupted, “we agreed, we will tell them when we were a couple, officially...and we already are...” 

“Yes...”

“But...” Shuka lifted her head once again looking at Nanaka, “ I dunno, I’m scared, why do you wanna tell them?”

Nanaka lifted her eyebrows in surprise 

 

_Ok, I didn’t see this coming...she is having cold feet..._

 

“Shuka...we had talked about it...”

“I know... but I like it how we are doing things right now...” said Shuka with pleading eyes and tone

“What? Shuka are you kidding me? You... you almost sold us out with your yogurt and the SIF thing...they will figure it out eventually” said Nanaka with concern

“I’m sorry about that...”

“I know, Shuka, these people are not dumb, Arisa and Aina already know that we are something, and I can bet my head that Rikako also knows something; she is just too close with Arisa...”

“Eh? I don’t think that Rikyako knows where she is stand...” said Shuka amused

 

_I don’t wanna hear that from you..._

_Well, ‘Seconds years’ are all...like in the clouds anyways..._

 

“What about Aina?” asked Nanaka, “ she will continue her teasing, I’m afraid I can’t save us all the time...”

“Eh? Why is that?” 

“Shuka, sweetie, we will be separated, now within ‘Years members’ with the campaign and next month will be Subunits...” said Nanaka with a painful tone

“Oh, right, Subunits...we... we must end together!” raised her voice Shuka

“I know, but what happens if we don’t? We are already separate into ‘Year groups’, this will mean less time with each other...so I’m not going to be around to save us if you mess up!”

Shuka opened her eyes wide, the train made a stop. 

 

People got out and like a horde, more people came in squeezing them more; Nanaka hugged her tightly while Shuka hide her head into Nanaka’s chest

 

“Sweetie, I have thought about it, really, we have just two chances in the patterns to be together, is a chance, but if we don’t, we will need the others support to survive as a couple,” said Nanaka softly hugging Shuka tight.

“Also...I’ve been thinking about ‘Kanan’, I need her to stand out, to give her more, and the only way I see to do it is... “ Nanaka sighed softly, “...is to start becoming her, be more in character, start to hugging the members and be more caring, and I can’t do it so freely if the girls don’t know about us... it will be weird...”

Shuka grabbed Nanaka’s blouse tightly but never said a thing. 

 

“Shuka, I need this....we need it too, I know you are not ok into bringing more people to _our_  relationship but, you said, Aqours is one, and they deserve to know, they can help us”

Shuka nodded, then she separate a bit from Nanaka’s chest

 

“Ok...I get it...can we...can we wait until the results of the Subunits?” asked Shuka shyly 

Nanaka frowned 

“Why?”

“What if we ended together? We can manage it better in the same subunit, the only ‘away moments’ will be when we got separate into ‘years groups’, and I think we can keep it under control like that...”

Nanaka hummed and blinked a few times

 

_Well, it’s something...it’s a bet, if we ended together we don’t say a thing...if we don’t... then we say the truth..._

 

“Besides, I would like to have you all for myself, until the campaign starts...” said Shuka sadly, “ it’s like we are not going to be together for like a whole month...”

“Ok... let’s wait till the results are out then...” said Nanaka with a smile 

“Yay!” snapped Shuka happily squeezing Nanaka

“Ok... let’s enjoy shopping then...” said Nanaka with a smile, somehow the mood already restored. 

 

Both got out of the train holding hands and enjoying another day as a happy couple, trying to enjoy their moments together as normal people and not idols, like if there’s nothing to be afraid of. 

Just two girls going shopping for some training clothes. 

 

 

——-**0. November 2015. 0**——

 

 

The month changed in the blink of an eye. 

Of course, the campaign began also the poll for Subunits. 

As for the poll, because it was something out of their power, it wasn’t something that they could be aware of, at least until the results were out, so they had to focus into two things; the campaign and practice. 

 

The campaign started of course, with “Second years” on Saturday, October 31st, as the Chief of staff said, they had to use the uniforms their characters were using in the visual key, sign some cards and do a bit of the introduction of their characters, nothing fancy or difficult. 

Of course “Second years” were all over the top, it was like their debut in society, finally, they were out in the light for the fans to recognized them. 

Shuka was so excited and all over the place that she almost forgot Nanaka’s birthday on November 2nd; Nanaka’s birthday being on a Monday and “Third years” campaign being on Sunday, November 1st, made it difficult for them to celebrate Nanaka on her day.

 

But, she did receive a cake, her good friend Izawa Mikako, from her radio show _"Fuwasata"_ did celebrate her on Saturday because that day there was a radio show; even if this made Shuka a little bit bitter, but at this point Nanaka couldn’t know who was more bitter about it, Nanaka because Shuka was so immersed in her campaign and almost forgot her birthday or Shuka because of the closeness between Mikako and Nanaka.  

 

And that’s because in Nanaka’s Twitter there were a lot of pictures of her radio show teammate and her...

 

Taking that matter aside, “Third years” campaign was a success; Nanaka, of course, did her ponytail, brought her most charismatic smile, she even painted her nails emerald green and tried her best as Kanan. 

Of course, Arisa took the MC and the middle spot, nothing that she can do about it anyway. 

The good thing was the chemistry between “Third years” members; they realized that the three of them were nerds, so they could talk a lot about manga and anime. 

 

The low point was that next session of “Thirds years” was scheduled on December 5th, almost a month from their first session, making them “free” for all that period, but making “Seconds years” and “First years” very busy with their respective sessions; this could be translated as “no dates for the happy couple”. 

For one side, Nanaka was a bit relieved about it because her and Shuka’s “stress relief sessions” decreased a bit, and she could save more energy for practice, but in the other hand, that meant less time with Shuka, and that is what she was most afraid of; having less hours with Shuka increased Shuka’s insecurities, for example like getting bitter because of her pictures with Mikako. 

 

This, of course, make Nanaka a bit worried, but nothing that serious to make her lose sleep, at least she was confident that this was momentary and everything will get better when they got the results of the Subunits poll, confident that she had two chances to be with Shuka on it and everything will get better. 

 

 

 

It was the middle of the month, and it was the middle of practice when the Chief of staff make his appearance into the big white room interrupting the practice. 

While Nanaka was relieved about it, the Lead teacher was annoyed as hell because of that. 

 

“Afternoon ladies!” he greeted with his characteristic voice, “ I hope I’m not interrupting something important....” he said looking at the Lead teacher 

“Just practice, you know...nothing ‘important’” she said ironically 

He laughed 

 

The girls gathered in the center with him; all of them looked concern, as they already know, his presence only means news. 

 

“Oh, my! He has a copy of the magazine!” snapped Aiai in her squeaky tone

Everybody started to talk at the same time and making lots of noise, Nanaka, on the other hand, felt her heart racing like crazy. 

 

_No wonder why everybody went bananas with this..._

 

This was the moment everybody was waiting since the project started; Subunits. 

 

“Calm down people!” said the Chief of staff with his harsh tone, “ I know you are waiting for this!”

“You bet!” said Aikyan

“C’mon c’mon, spill the beans!” said King with eagerness 

“Ok if you insist...” he said opening the magazine and looking for the Love Live! Section. 

 

Everybody was really nervous, Shuka was smiling weirdly and doing some little jumps in her spot, she even hit Anchan in her shoulder because of her nervousness; Aina was doing some weird noises; Aikyan, Aiai, and King were holding hands, like if it’s there a chance for “First years” to be their own subunit, Rikako was playing with her hands and Arisa was...well, like she always was, serious. 

 

This was the moment, her fate being decided by a fan poll, her next moves in her personal life and in the professional life will be determined by a single and filthy poll. 

 

She frowned, That was....wrong in so many levels, but then again, she signed a contract and she is part of the show; her personal life ended in the very first moment she was out in the campaign, now she is a personality and the fans will recognize her outside of her house. 

 

Nanaka looked at Shuka, they locked gazes, knowing exactly that this was the moment when their lives might change for the next five years.

Nanaka crosses her fingers.

 

_Please please, let me be with her..._

 

“Ok, here it is! Are you ready?” said the Chief of staff, he received a loud “Yes” coming from the girls, almost like a scream, the tension couldn’t be higher 

 

“Ok, so for 'Subunit A', we have, ‘Takami Chika’, ‘Watanabe You’ and ‘Kurosawa Ruby’” he said

 

Nanaka’s eyes become watery, there was no Kanan near You on that sentence.

Anchan and Shuka made a happy scream and hugged, later to that hug came to Aiai making lots of noise, they started to jump in circle while hugging making everybody uncomfortable because of the noise.

Subunit A will be a subunit full of dorks. 

 

Then it hit her like a thunder.

 

This being a really big issue for Nanaka, she did study the patterns carefully, almost memorizing all the possible combinations, so, if Subunit A was Chika, You and Ruby...

 

 _This can only mean_...

_GOD NO..._

_Pattern 4..._

 

She looked in panic at Shuka, who of course didn’t realize anything, then she looked at Aina, who gave her a concerned look, but soon she realized, she brought her hand towards her mouth in shock, then both looked at Arisa. 

 

“For 'Subunit B', we have ‘Matsuura Kanan’, ‘Kurosawa Dia’ and ‘Kunikida Hanamaru’” said the Chief of staff 

 

The dork trio stopped their foolishness and looked in silence at the three members of Subunit B; Nanaka just couldn’t take it and brought her hands to her face, Arisa just crossed her arms and King pouted 

 

“Men! this two are no fun!” complained King

“Save it!” said Arisa in her diligent tone

“I’m sorry Suwawa....” whispered Aina behind her hands, it sounded sincere 

 

“Ok, well for 'Subunit C', there are no more surprises, this will be ‘Sakurauchi Riko’, ‘Tsushima Yoshiko ‘ and ‘Ohara Mari’” he finished

 

“Come here my little demons!” said Aikyan with confidence using a low voice

“Great, I’m with the weirds...” said Rikako in a resignation tone

“Hey! That’s not true!” snapped Aina in a very weird tone

“‘Mary-san’ is really weird so will match very well with ‘Yoshiko-chan’” said Aiai with confidence

“‘Yohane’!” tried to correct Aikyan 

“Well that’s why ‘Riko-chan’ is there, to put some sense into these two...” said Arisa

 

“Suwawa...” called Aina softly ignoring the discussion the rest of the members were having, but Nanaka was out of herself, was out of her body, her mind, and the planet. 

 

How were the odds that the only pattern that Kanan shared with Dia was the one who was chosen?!

What were the fans thinking?! 

She clearly was hating the fans at that moment. Not only they screwed her chances to be with Shuka in the same Subunit but also made her share the Subunit with the one and only Arisa Komiya. 

 

Kanan was screwed too, she will lose her leadership in the Subunit as well, and will be in the constant shadow of Dia. 

Not to mention that, now, knowing that Shuka and her are not sharing the Subunit, the truth must come out, they have to tell the girls that the fate of their relationship will rely on their support because now they will be constantly separated...

 

_At least I’m not in the same unit with Aina... but...Arisa..._

_...I’m in the same unit as her!_

 

“Suwa-san” she heard, the voice was from Arisa, who stood at her side

Nanaka took her hands out of her face and looked at her; she didn’t know if to be mad or to start crying. 

“I’m sorry...” said Arisa softly, “ I know you didn’t want to end up with me in the Subunit, so I’m sorry... please let’s get along” 

And she bowed. 

 

Nanaka looked at her with her eyes opened wide, like if she couldn’t believe what was happening, neither the rest of the members or even the Chief of staff or the teachers, everybody kept quiet at the sight, it was like they were starting to work with each other for the first time. 

 

Nanaka closed her eyes; that was it. There’s nothing else to do but to go with the flow, the fans didn’t know, they just couldn’t know, they saw that pattern as the most interesting one and they voted, they wanted to see that combination and that’s it, there’s nothing she can do now but embrace the moment and hope for the best. 

She opened her eyes. 

 

“Likewise,” said Nanaka softly and bowed too. 

There was a full minute silence were no one understood a thing, except Aina who was at the edge of crying 

 

“And you want me to team up with these two weirdos?” said King in her amused tone breaking the moment, everybody laughed except for Nanaka and Arisa who shared some serious gaze to each other. 

 

“Ok, well I hope you are happy with the result,” said the Chief of staff who looked at King; she shrugged, “ if you don’t, well, get used to it, Subunits are your second family and you will learn to love it”

 

The dork trio made a loud “Yey!” 

Maybe that was the happiest Subunit from the three of them, it was clear that Subunit B was dissatisfied about all the members and Subunit C, Rikako was feeling misplaced there because she will have the hard task to leash up Aikyan and Aina. 

 

“So, on March issue of the magazine, a poll of names for your Subunits will be made, the result will be on the May issue,” said the Chief of staff 

 

_Great another poll of destiny..._

 

“Of course, we don’t want to call you out like ‘Subunit A’ or ‘B’ or ‘C’, they need names, also we have big plans for them, so you will spend lots of time with your Subunit... work hard!” He said with a fake happiness, he could totally sense the dissatisfied ambient within the girls. 

 

“Well I think that’s it, stay tuned for more, and I see you on the next session of the campaign if nothing else comes up” and with that, he left. 

 

The Lead teacher looked at this new scenery she had; the dork trio were messing around doing noise; Aikyan was doing some weird poses imitating Yoshiko and Aina trying to imitate her, while Rikako was facepalming; in the other side of the room, a quiet King, with a serious arms crossed Arisa and a gloomy Nanaka. 

It was… SAD. 

 

Nanaka was immersed in her mind trying to get herself together, she just couldn’t comprehend how, or why she ended up in this mess. The universe must hate her so bad, that she ended up in a project where her skills had failed her constantly, not happy about failing with the character, the dances, and vocals, now she ended in the Subunit with her “rival” and not with the person she cared the most… 

 

_My girlfriend…_

 

Nanaka looked up to see Shuka, she was fooling around with Aiai and Anchan; she didn’t seem sad at all about not being the same unit. 

So here is were Nanaka’s mind tried to pull it off; Was she sad about being in the same unit with Arisa, or was she sad because she wasn’t in the same unit with Shuka?... both?… what about her?…

_She doesn’t even care..._

 

Something cracked inside her. 

 

“Well, girls!” called the Lead teacher,” seeing that none of you are in conditions to keep the practice, I think we need to … get ourselves together…”

“How so?” asked Anchan stopping the fooling around

The Lead teacher made a sign for everyone to follow her to the center of the room and she sat down. 

“Let's talk our hearts out…please sit,” she said calmly 

 

Everybody shared some concerned looks and then walked towards her and sat making a circle. 

At the Lead teachers' right sat Anchan, Aiai, Shuka, Nanaka, Arisa, King, Aikyan, Rikako and then Aina, completing the circle, the other teacher just stood in the back.

 

All the girls shared some shy smiles, it was weird that the Lead teacher summoned everybody to an “open heart”, leaving the practice a bit forgotten, this wasn’t the first time though, it was common for her to do this thing when she wanted to talk about the choreography or to gather some ideas with the girls, but yeah, those were like brainstorms for the practice, not because of the mood between the members.   

 

“Ok, girls, I see that this were some hard news for almost everyone,” she started with a soft tone, “I remember when μ’s had to form their own Subunits, it was new for them as well and of course, was hard for them; you’ll see, every Subunit have a special vibe, you still don’t know yet, for us teachers its difficult too, we have to think in different choreographies for each unit, the composers have to think in different kind of genders and lyrics for each unit as well, so as you see, we are all in this together, it’s hard for us all…”

 

She made a pause, the girls nodded  

 

“How the mood was left after the Subunits were made, worried me, certainly no one is in any conditions to keep the practice; we want to made Subunits not to segregate the full unit, which is Aqours…even if you don’t feel like a full thing yet” she looked at everybody then she continued.

“So, I think it’s better for everybody to clear up their chest, start the units without doubts, and speak our minds, how about it?” she said smiling

 

_Like if we have a choice…._

 

Nanaka sighed softly, she was annoyed at a whole new level, but everybody else just nodded and agreed.   

 

“Ok, so first thing up…what do you think about the units?” asked the Lead teacher

Everybody made some sounds and tried to speak at the same time making noise; the Lead teacher raised her hand, everybody shut up.

“Let's do it one by one,” she said, she pointed at Anchan 

“Anchan, our leader… what do you think?”

 

Anchan rise her eyebrows and gave them a shy smile

“Well, personally I’m happy with my Subunit, ok, we haven’t done anything yet, but… I... I guess we will have lost of fun with it…”

“YEAH!” snapped Aiai and Shuka at the same time

“What are those, they are like gangsters…” said Aikyan 

“Doesn’t they give you a _“Printemps”_ vibe?” said King with a serious tone

“How so?” asked Shuka

“Well, the characters, ‘Honoka’, ‘Kotori’ and ‘Hanayo’, are like ‘ Chika’, ‘You’ and ‘Ruby’, also the same attributes…one Smile and two Pure” said, King 

“Interesting…” said the Lead teacher 

“Ow, is that good?” asked Shuka

“Well I guess, maybe it is not, we will be compared with μ’s’s subunits too,” said Aiai in panic

“We will be compared anyway…” said Nanaka in a gloomy tone

 

Everybody looked at her with sad eyes, she was right. 

Shuka and Nanaka shared some gazes, after a few seconds Shuka’s face changed drastically to a one even sadder

 

_Did she just realize that we are NOT in the same Subunit….?_

 

“Well, next, Furihata-san?” asked the Lead teacher

“Well, I guess for me it would make me happy to be in any unit!, I love this group and all the members, I’ll make sure to have fun, no matter the unit we are making,” said Aiai with a smile, the Lead teacher nodded

 

_How mature…._

 

“Saito-san?” asked the Lead teacher

Shuka bit her lips, she was troubled

“Well, _eto_ … for me…” she looked at her side, to see Nanaka, she gave her a sad smile, “ I’m sad I’m not with Osuwa…” 

 

_Holy shit! so blunt!_

 

“But, I’m happy to be with Anchan and Aiai, seems like we will have lots of fun…besides….” she stopped and looked at Nanaka again, “ I think, this will be for the better, you are always protecting me, being in different units will help me to be more independent “ she finished with a shy smile

 

_…_

 

Nanaka blinked a few times, was she for real?….

 

“Well as I guessed ‘Subunit A’ was a good match….then…we have the main problem in ‘Subunit B’….” said the Lead teacher

“Suwa-san?”

 

Nanaka felt her life was drowned out. What was the point now? she felt empty and betrayed

 

“Suwa-san…?” asked again the Lead teacher, Nanaka blinked a few times trying to come back for space

 

“I hate it.”

She said finally bluntly and senseless, it gains a few “oh” from the girls and a painful gaze from Shuka at her side

“Ok why?….” asked the Lead teacher

Nanaka looked at her with her “Suwa face”

“Because I’m on it” interrupted Arisa with her serious tone, they shared some gazes with Nanaka. 

 

It was like a few seconds of metal reading; Arisa was taking all the blame of the hate, of course, part of Nanaka’s hate about the Subunit was because Arisa, but the other part was because Shuka wasn’t there too, but, Shuka made herself clear that she was ok with that and even she wanted it that way because of her independence from Nanaka. 

Of course, Nanaka couldn’t say now that she hates the unit and was sad because Shuka wasn’t there, that would look so lame on her… so it's better to blame Arisa about it. 

 

Nanaka gave her a small nod

 

_Thanks, Arisa..._

 

“Yes, because she is in there,” said Nanaka in her serious tone 

“What’s your problem with Arisa?” asked King

“Let’s say we didn’t start with the right foot….” said Arisa quickly, “ That’s why I apologized before and well, there's nothing we can do now but to work with each other… right, Suwa-san?”

“Yes..” said softly Nanaka feeling like dying a bit by the second

“So, you are ok with your unit?” asked the Lead teacher to Arisa

“Well, my thoughts are like Aiai’s; I like the full unit as a whole, we are a group, and I care about the members, of course, I’m gonna do my best for my unit… we are good people”

“Ok…Kanako-san?” asked the Lead teacher to King

“I can’t say I hate it…but, it feels boring…sorry guys…” apologized King looking at Arisa and Nanaka, “ I feel comfortable with ‘First years’, I like to fool around, but it seems like with this two it’s gonna be impossible…”

“We are here to work, not to fool around” scolded Arisa

“See?” said King

“She is like ‘Dia-sama’” said Anchan giggling 

“Well, I think this is the most interesting Subunit,” said the Lead teacher, everybody looked at her with surprise, “ We have a Pure tribute, a Cool and a Smile one, it makes the most equilibrate unit…so I’m guessing the strong point on it will be your voices…. you should totally develop and focus on that” 

 

Of course, King was a great singer, Arisa was too…

 

_Good Lord, they put me with two great singers!_

 

Nanaka freaked out. 

She was in the worst Subunit, she will never stand out;  Arisa’s leadership and King’s great vocal skills… what can she give to the unit?

 

“So here is our _‘Lily White’_?” asked Aiai

“Eh? the characters don’t fit…” said Shuka 

“But the style, _‘Lily White’s’_ strength was their vocals skills because there was one of each attribute”

“Oh that made sense…” said Arisa

“So, the new ‘ _BiBi_ ’ here, “said King with her amused tone pointing Aikyan, Aina and Rikako, “ the weirdos, 'Subunit C’!”

“Hey!” snapped Rikako and Aikyan at the same time, Aina just laughed like an old man. 

 

“Two Cool attributes and a Smile one, yes, sounds like _‘BiBi’_ , also the weird part…” said the Lead teacher amused, “ I think its gonna be an interesting Subunit girls, we have a lot of nice elements here, ‘Yoshiko-chan’s’ gothic vibe, ‘Mari-chan’s’ taste for metal music and of course the sanity of ‘Riko-chan’”

“Is that a good thing?” asked Rikako 

“Of course, your role is very important Aida-san, someone has to take an eye on this two..”  said the Lead teacher, Rikako shrugged

 

“Well, I like this unit very much!” said Aikyan 

“It feels like us, right?” said Aina happily

“God, I’m gonna die between these two…” said softly Rikako

“We can change! I would love to be part of 'Subunit C', seems so much fun!” said King looking at them 

“And leave Aida-san with Suwa-san and Komiya-san? sorry but there’s a reason why that combination wasn’t even an option…” said the Lead teacher

“Too boring?” asked Arisa

“Too sane maybe…?” said the Lead teacher in an amused tone 

Everybody laughed

 

“Well, it seems that the only Subunit that will need some time it’s ‘Subunit B’, I’m sorry guys, but if you try hard and work your asses, you can be the best unit if you work together,” said the Lead teacher

“What?!” snapped Aiai and Shuka at the same time, followed by some complaints of Aikyan and Aina 

The Lead teacher laughed

 

“It’s a matter of discipline; ’Subunit A’ is the loudest, ’Subunit C’ it’s the weird one, but ’Subunit B’ it's the—“

“BORING ONE!” shouted Aiai, Shuka, Aikyan, and Aina

Everybody laughed about it. 

 

“Well it’s up to all of you to made your unit proud; work hard, try hard and be better everyday” said the Lead teacher standing up, “ You are Aqours, not μ’s, and when your units have their own names, they will be Aqours Subunits, get that in mind, don’t compare yourselves with them, you can and will be better”

 

Everybody gave the Lead teacher some applauses and then she and the other teacher left the room. 

The girls stayed a bit in the circle just because of it, it seemed that there was a lot of emotions around, so they started to share some impressions about the units.

 

Nanaka took a deep breath, it was time. 

If Shuka was so good about her new unit, well then, the truth must go out, they agreed it, and now it seemed the good moment. 

In the end, she didn’t even care…

 

“Shuka…” called Nanaka softly, Shuka turned sightly to her and raised her eyebrows

“It’s time…” said Nanaka

“Time for what?” asked Shuka innocently

Nanaka blinked a few times. 

 

Was Shuka’s euphoria so big that made her forget all the important stuff? like her birthday? like telling them that they were dating? like….that they ARE dating…?

 

Nanaka sighed softly again. 

“Shuka, are you really ok being in another unit?” she asked softly

“Osuwa you never told me you have problems with Komiya-san….”

 

_Is she avoiding the issue?…_

 

“Well, now you know…” said Nanaka softly 

“I hope you can get along…”

“I hope that too…” said Nanaka, then she put on her serious “Suwa face”, “ you should have told me that you didn’t want to be with me in the Subunit…” 

“Eh?!” said Shuka surprised,“that’s not….that’s not what I meant….” 

“Then what did you mean?…. you didn’t care that we are not in the same unit….actually you are happy with yours…..”

“That’s not true, you know that!” said Shuka outraged

“Then why?! if you wanted to get rid of me—“

“Suwawa, that’s not true, the difference between us is that I don’t have bad issues with Aiai or Anchan, that’s why I’m comfortable with my unit!” Shuka said now a bit annoyed,” don’t blame me about your problems with Arisa; if you had ended in ‘Subunit C’ I bet you would be happy because Aina is there” she finally said, Nanaka opened her eyes wide

 

_Why is Shuka bringing Aina into the matter? what the hell was happening?_

 

 

Nanaka bit her lips.

 

“Of course it makes me sad not being with you Osuwa, but, I’m happy in the unit I got in… and when the Lead teacher asked my opinion, I said what I felt, being without you in the unit can help me in some way….”

“But—“

“I’m trying to see a bright side… it’s not what I wanted!” Shuka said now loud, of course, the rest of the members shut up. 

 

“What’s wrong with you two?” asked Aiai

“Yeah, they have been whispering all this time there…” said Anchan in a teasing mode

Shuka started to laugh nervously and started stuttering again 

 

 

_She is helpless… ok, It’s enough… I’m done with this..._

 

 

“Shuka,” called Nanaka dryly, Shuka shut up abruptly and looked at her with sad eyes

“Suwawa…” called softly

“We promised, the result was out, and we agreed on it…”  said Nanaka in her monotone

“What are you guys talking about?” asked King confused

“Suwa—“ tried Shuka with pleading eyes

“We are not in the same unit…” said Nanaka softly

 

_...and you are happy about it, now bare with it._

 

“But—“ Shuka stutter

“Guys?” asked Arisa

 

Nanaka sighed softly and then she cleared her throat and stood up; she looked down at Shuka and extended her hand to Shuka to stand up too, Shuka looked at her with sad eyes, but then she accepted the hand and stood up, they hold hands entwining their fingers.

 

“Oh my!” snapped Aina loud and brought her hands to her mouth; she knew what was coming 

“Suwa-san… are you sure—?” tried softly Arisa but Nanaka just closed her eyes, took a deep breath and just went with the flow

 

“Guys, there's something we need to tell you…” she said slowly, Aina did a squeaky sound behind her hands, but the rest of the members were looking with attention; Shuka tightened her grip in their entwined hands with a nervous smile

“...we are dating…” said Nanaka finally.

 

There was a full minute of awkward silence, where everybody looked at each other

 

_Ok… this wasn't that terrible, I guess…_

 

“You are dating?….like…dating-dating?” asked Anchan softly 

“Which are the differences?” asked annoyed Aiai at her side looking at Anchan 

“Well I dunno, they can be dating and not being girlfriends…?” answered Anchan 

“We are,” said Nanaka dryly, everybody looked straight at her

 

Another silence. 

Shuka started to move weird because of her nervousness 

 

Seeing that no one was saying a thing, Arisa took the situation

 

“Ok, well, then, Congratulations!” said Arisa happily 

Everybody snapped about it and started saying congratulations words, of course, Aina didn’t, she was hiding behind her hands. 

 

Nanaka and Shuka accepted the good words kindly and bowed, having some goofy smiles on them, but of course, now that the news was delivered and processed the girls started to react about it…

 

“My, I knew that there was something going on between you two!” said King, “how long have you been dating?”

“Like officially?” asked Shuka 

“Oh, there's more time?” asked Aikyan

“Well, officially, since.. September? I think…” said Shuka softly

“WHAT?! you have been keeping that away from us?” said Anchan loud

“Well it’s not easy…” tried Shuka 

“Dude! that’s not cool!” said Aiai 

“I know, we are sorry…. are we?” asked Shuka looking at Nanaka, she nodded

 

“Then…” said Arisa, “ why telling us now?”

Shuka looked at Nanaka with sad eyes, Nanaka gave her a sweet smile instead

 

“Girls, we need your help…” said Nanaka looking at the girls with her serious face, “ we wanted to wait till the Subunit results were out, that happened now.. because we need your support”

“Like our blessing or something?” asked Aiai

“What are you? their parents?” asked Anchan to Aiai

“Guys please!” scolded Arisa, “ let her finish”

 

Nanaka nodded

“Well, you will see… I was having some issues with my character, ‘Kanan’s’ personality is someone who is caring towards her teammates, and likes to hug them….” she giggled, “ for the sake of the character, I need to start doing that, with… em.. with you… “ all of them said a soft “oh”

“and of course, hugging Shuka will be my weak point…because, well, we are dating… and if you see that much you will think that is weird…or the such…” 

“Oh you want us to cover you?” asked King

“Well, that’s something…” said Shuka 

“But you have to hug someone else too,” said Rikako 

“Yeah, I will…if you don’t mind too…” said Nanaka Shyly 

Everybody looked at each other nodding like there’s no problem at all 

 

“Ok, so besides of you wanting us to cover your ‘Shuka-hugs', what else do you need our support?” asked Aiai

“‘Shuka-hugs'…? that's lovely,” said Nanaka softly

“Well, to bear with us?” said Shuka smiling

“Bear with you how?” asked Aikyan

“To act natural when they are all lovey-dovey,” said Arisa, Aina snorted  

“Got a problem?” asked Arisa to Aina

“Nope….nope…nope at all” said Aina nervously 

 

Nanaka looked at her, they locked gazes, it was clear that Aina was still against it, but seeing that all the members were ok with this she has to shut the hell up and bear with them. 

 

“Well, Anchan, Aiai…” said Nanaka softly towards them, “ seeing that Shuka is not going to be in my Subunit, I need to leave her under your care… please take good care of her” and she bowed

Shuka tightened her grip in her hand and bowed too.

Anchan made a nervous smile while Aiai played the character of a proud father or a gangster boss... 

 

“Your girlfriend will be safe with us!” said Aiai with a male tone, “ right Anju?” asked towards Anchan

“Anju?!” snapped Anchan laughing “ what the hell are you Aiai?!”

“Guys this is serious!” said Shuka outraged

“And you are trusting your girlfriend with this dorks?!” said King

“It’s not that I have any choice…” said Nanaka looking at them 

“Well, the same thing for you two…” said Shuka towards Arisa and King, “please take care of Osuwa for me…” and she bowed

“I think Suwa-san can take care for herself,” said Arisa, King nodded

 

“And what are we suppose to do?” asked Aikyan, Aina laughed 

“We support them, that’s all,” said Rikako

“So let me get this right,” said Aiai, “ you want our support to cover you to hug Shuka freely without looking at you like some crazy lesbian girl who likes to hug? and besides, you want our support for those long terms you two will be apart? is that it?” 

“Yes, basically,” said Nanaka, Shuka nodded

“Seems fair,” said Aiai, “What do you think Anchan leader?” asked Aiai to Anchan

“Well, hum…” she looked at both of them “ Are you two happy?”

 

Nanaka rose her eyebrows in surprise, Shuka tightened her grip into their hands again 

“Of course!” said Shuka happily 

“Yes, we are…” said Nanaka softly

“Then, there's nothing else to discuss here, of course, I’ll support you and help you two in any way I can!” said Anchan happily 

“‘Subunit A’ it's on board!, what about you guys?” said Aiai to Arisa and King

 

Both look at each other and shrugged

“‘Subunit B’ it's on board too,” said Arisa, then she looked at Rikako, Aikyan, and Aina

 

“They look cute together…” said Rikako,  it’s fine with me” 

“That’s exactly what my ‘Little demons’ will do!” said Aikyan, “ I mean, I’m in of course!”

 

Everybody looked at Aina. 

“What?” she said surprised

“What do you think…Ainya?” asked Shuka

Aina looked at Nanaka with sad eyes, then she gave her a sweet smile

“I’ve already told Suwawa that I’ll support her happiness… so whatever she needs, I’ll help”  

 

Everybody shared some sweet smiles

 

"Thanks so much girls, we are under your care,” said Nanaka again an bowed, this time for the whole group, Shuka followed

The girls started to applause for not a particular reason, just because they were happy and the couple deserved some love, but if it was on cue, the door opened 

 

Like a thundershock Nanaka and Shuka departed their hands, of course, the girls noticed that and made some weird faces; their support and cover up job was starting right now. 

The Chief of staff came in with some concerned looks. 

 

“Good, everybody is still here…” he said stopping on the frame, “ I need Suwa-san and Suzuki-san to come with me…”  he said in his hard tone.

 

Everybody shared some concerned looks to each other, Shuka made a sad face to Nanaka

 

“Osuwa, what’s happening?” asked Shuka afraid

“I don’t know…” said Nanaka with a serious tone

“Did you two do something nasty?” asked Aiai in a mock tone 

“Don’t say nonsense” scolded Arisa

 

Aina stood up and locked gazes with Nanaka, both looked troubled. 

 

“It’s like you two are on detention,” said King

“You are grounded!” shouted Aikyan 

Some of the girls giggled, but Shuka, Nanaka, and Aina didn’t. 

 

Nanaka walked with a nervous pace, feeling that her minute of happiness will soon be turned into a big nightmare, somehow she felt that at this point nothing can be worse but maybe she was wrong. 

Everything can get worse. 

 

They walked out of the room with the Chief of staff. 

 

 

 

.

 

 

.

 

 

.

 

 

 

The Chief of staff's office was a bit crowded, mostly because of all the papers and folders scattered around. He had a lot of merchandising around too, but not only of the Love Live! franchise. 

 

“Please come in,” he said politely while he was walking towards his desk in the middle of the office, there were two chairs at the front of the desk

“Pardon the intrusion,” said Nanaka and Aina at the same time

“Please have a seat” he offered the chairs to the girls. 

 

Nanaka sat at the right, while Aina at the left, both were really nervous and it was visible in Aina’s face.

 

“What’s wrong Suzuki-san?” he asked in a soft tone

“I...I don’t know…you tell me…” said Aina with a sad tone 

“Why are we here?” asked Nanaka in her monotone

“Oh, sorry, this must have frightened the both of you” he ended up laughing in his particularly tone 

 

Yes, was odd in so many ways, normally the news were for everybody, there are no special treatments within the members, except you win the popularity poll and become the Center, but even that, all the news and instructions were made with all the members around. 

Like everybody must be aboard in what the hell was happening. 

 

Nanaka frowned, this wasn’t funny

 

“Did we do something?” asked Aina scared

“Oh, no…at least not yet…” he said sitting more comfortable

“Ok, then it’s a task…” said Nanaka dryly

The Chief of staff sat even more comfortable in his chair and crossed his fingers.

 

“I’m not going to fool around, “ he said dryly, “production asked me to give you a task…a special one, that must be kept between the both of you” 

Nanaka and Aina rose their eyebrows

 

_What the—_

_Oh Crap!_

 

Nanaka knew in an instant what was this about. Even if it was months ago that happened, she still recalled Kimino Sakurako’s words of having big plans for Kanan and Mari, and now she wanted to push that outside the screen, with them. 

It was clear. 

 

“Ok, what is it?” asked Nanaka serious 

“Well, I don’t know if you are familiar with the word _‘Jolks’_ ” he asked

“Eh? no, what’s that?” asked Aina, Nanaka bit her lips

 

_Nanjolno and Kussun… Jolks…_

 

Nanaka twitched one of her eyebrows. 

 

“Well, it's something the fans made about Nanjo Yoshino-san and Kusuda Aina-san, from μ’s, they made up that name because well, this two actress have a particular closeness between each other, also their characters, ‘Ayase Eli’ and ‘Tojo Nozomi’, the fans name it _‘NozoEli’_ and it was very popular…” he said softly

“Oh, they had a radio show too right?” asked Aina in her particular mood

“Yes, the _'NozoEli Radio Garden'_ ” confirmed the Chief

“Yey! that was cool, are you giving us a Radio show?” asked Aina, Nanaka blinked

 

_Of course not, our characters don’t even have an anime yet…_

 

“Eh?, no, no, I’m telling you the setting…” he said laughing 

“But, who knows…if your characters are that popular maybe we can make a radio show…”

“Aww I would love that!” said Aina 

“So, the thing is, that this time we want to do something alike, but we want to control it… with μ’s the fans did it and we had to adapt to them, now we want to control it” he said

“So, are you telling us that the _‘Jolks’_ was real?” asked Nanaka surprised, Aina looked at her

“Eh...I can’t answer that…” he said nervously 

 

_Of course, he can’t…_

 

“This time we will give the fans some teasing, so I’m letting you know that we will use your characters to do it, we will make the _‘KanaMari’_ ” 

“We will be the new _‘NozoEli’_!” said Aina happily, Nanaka frowned 

“And how are we supposed to do that, when we don’t have even an anime?” asked Nanaka serious, “ The _‘NozoEli’_ was born from the anime and the interactions of the characters”

“Good question, well as you already know we are making some changes, this is not Love Live! this is Love Live! Sunshine; what we did with μ’s has nothing to do with what are we gonna do with Aqours, you will go further”

“Eh? what do you mean?” asked Aina

“You will start with some shipping of your own,” he said

“Eh?!” snapped Aina

 

_Thought so…_

 

“While the anime is not even announced yet, we only have the Magazine, the _Seiyuus_ , and the campaign, I think it’s enough for you to start”

“To start what?” asked Aina, then she looked at Nanaka “ Suwawa are you getting something of this?”

Nanaka never took her gaze away from the Chief of staff. 

 

“Your characters are already interacting in the Magazine, now it's your turn to ‘play’, I suggest you create a lovely name for you two for the fans to recognize your ‘closeness’, like _‘Jolks’,_ and use all what you think necessary to position it on the project.”

“Like Twitter?” asked Nanaka dryly 

“Oh yeah, that’s a good idea… you can upload pictures and stuff, it will be great!” he said happily 

Nanaka frowned 

 

_This…this is bad… and just now, when everybody knows that Shuka and I are a couple…_

_Oh, my…Shuka…._

_What is Shuka going to think about this?_

 

Nanaka panicked. 

 

“Sorry, I think I’m not getting it…” said Aina slowly

“Suzuki-san, what I’m asking is that from now on you and Suwa-san have to ‘pretend’ to be an _item_ , to be close to each other, as I recall, ‘Kanan-chan’ is good with hugs, let Suwa-san hug you a lot, touch you a lot, and of course, take a lot of pictures together, made the fans happy with a 3D version of ‘ _KanaMari_ ’” 

“Oh…” said Aina, then slowly looked a Nanaka with sad eyes, “ Suwawa, you ok?”

“What if I refuse?” asked Nanaka dryly

“I’m afraid it’s not something you can refuse Suwa-san, you must do it, it’s mandatory…” 

“Suwawa….” called softly Aina

 

Nanaka frowned and narrowed her eyes.

Aina knew that this was going to hurt Nanaka more than her, of course, the one who is into a forbidden relationship was Nanaka not Aina. 

So of course, Aina was available and willing to do this thing, in fact, maybe she was eager to do it. 

It was a chance, a chance to be close to Nanaka, to hug her, to touch her to do everything that she can’t do but Shuka can, the difference was that Shuka was something like a “Backstage” relationship, the fans are going to see Nanaka’s and Aina’s “relationship”.

 

This was so freaking delicious for Aina.

But what is Shuka going to think? is she going to accept this?…

Wait, the Chief of staff said that this was something between the two of them, meaning that the rest of the members can’t know. 

Shuka can’t know. 

 

This was madness. 

This was the worse. 

 

 _Fuck._  

 

\--0oo0-- 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well....we all know that Suwawa made up the "NanaAina" thing...  
> We know that some of you wanted that Nanaka's and Shuka's relationship stay a bit in the dark, but for the sake of the plot, we can't... sorry! but I believe Misha had a few more chapters of their love being pure and forbidden in Lies Under a Mask, stay tuned!  
> It must be hard feeling that you are constantly failing... we are sorry Suwawa!  
> How were the Subunits? The popularity poll?
> 
> Thanks so much for the comments and Kudos!  
> See ya next time!


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Suwa Nanaka have to face the orders of productions, making the KanaMari real.  
> How is Shuka going to accept this? or the Members  
> How far can she go for the sake of "doing the job"  
> Anchan's leadership is being tested.  
> The relationship within Third years is developed and finally, the Event of January 11 is here.  
> But most important, the love triangle is here to stay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sarah here!  
> I'm sorry for the long chapter once again, but it was needed.  
> On this chapter, we wanted to develop a bit of the project as at the same time some emotional development.  
> Please bear with us...  
> And enjoy! : )

Masquerade Ch 07 

 

Fear.

Fear can be an unpleasant emotion that it’s caused by the threat of danger, pain, or harm. A feeling of anxiety concerning the outcome of something or the safety of someone.

A mixed feeling of dread and reverence.

 

The symptoms of fear might experience gastrointestinal distress, sweating, dizziness, dry mouth, rapid breathing, and other physical and emotional symptoms. 

These things occur because your body is sensing fear, and it’s preparing you for an emergency, so it makes your blood flow to the muscles, increases blood sugar, and gives you the mental ability to focus on the thing that your body perceives as a threat.

 

This, indeed, was an emergency. 

 

Suwa Nanaka was sweating cold, she was feeling dizzy in a whole new level; her mouth was getting dry, she was starting to feel her breathing agitated and having the urge of throwing up.

 

She was afraid. 

 

Somehow the Chief of staff’s office looked smaller and with serious ventilation problems.

She blinked a few times trying to process the new information he just dropped to her and Suzuki Aina who was sitting at her side with a goofy smile across her face, while Nanaka was trying so hard to don’t throw up. 

 

“What’s wrong Suwa-san? You look so pale...” the Chief of staff said with a concerned tone. 

“Suwawa...?” called Aina softly 

 

Nanaka tried hard to swallow her fears with a heavy gulp. 

 

She nodded. 

 

“Alright, then, if there’s nothing else to discuss...” said the Chief of staff standing up, “ I expect the best from you two”

 

_ No, wait... this is not right... _

_ I can’t let this happen. _

_ I just... _

_ CAN’T!  _

 

“Wa–wait a minute...” murmured Nanaka

The Chief of staff looked down at her and bit his lips

“Something the matter Suwa-san...?”

 

_ I need a minute... _

 

“Can... can I have some water please?” manage Nanaka to said softly

Aina opened her eyes wide and then looked at the Chief with a troubled look 

“Eh? Right...yes, you don’t look fine at all...” said the Chief moving out of his desk and looking around his office

 

Of course, he didn’t have any water around, so, after a few walking in circles around the place, he apologized and run out of the office.

 

“Suwawa what the hell?!” asked Aina in her loud tone, “ you look like if you had seen a ghost!”

Nanaka grabbed her temples and tried to massage them; her fear trying hard to kick her out

“I just can’t...” murmured Nanaka troubled 

“Suwawa...” said Aina softly and gently she started to rub Nanaka’s back, “ this is not that bad...isn’t?”

 

_ The hell is not bad, this is the worst! _

 

Nanaka closed her eyes, she needed a minute to get herself together. 

 

A few minutes ago, the Chief of staff interrupted a very intimate moment between the nine members of Aqours; just right a few seconds after Nanaka and Shuka had come out of the closet and told the members that they were dating and they will be counting on their support, this man came and asked Nanaka and Aina to come to his office. 

 

Under the concerned looks of their teammates, they left the white room to greet this little office where the Chief just ordered them to play as if they were a couple. 

 

Just like that. 

 

They have to pretend to be an item, to take pictures together, to hold hands, to act cute for the fans, to even create a name for the shipping; make the “ _KanaMari_ ” real. 

 

_ Just what the hell?! _

 

And to put the cherry on top, no one has to know, just production and themselves, the members just can’t know. 

Shuka can’t know. 

 

How is Shuka going to take this?

How is she going to react? She is not going to tolerate this, not just after they had come out to the open with the members; now everybody knows they are a couple officially and it was Nanaka’s idea to expose them out. Even if Shuka was resisting to this idea till the very end. 

So how are the members going to react if suddenly Nanaka starts to flirt with Aina in front of the cameras and with the fans? 

How hypocrite would she look like in her teammate's eyes...?! 

 

Nanaka’s sense of fear started to kick her again; the sweat, the dizziness, her intentions of throwing up...

 

“Ai–Aina... I can’t do this...” said Nanaka removing her hands off her temples 

“What?! Why not?!” snapped Aina in her goofy tone, “ Suwawa, it’s not difficult at–“

“It’s easy for you” interrupted Nanaka locking gazes with her, “ what I’m supposed to do with Shuka?”

Asked Nanaka with her voice trembling 

Aina withdrew her hand off Nanaka’s back and made a soft “Oh”, of course, Aina wasn’t thinking about that at all. 

 

The door suddenly opened making both girls jump in their seats; Nanaka almost threw her insides out of fright. 

The Chief of staff came in with a bottle of water that he gently passed over Nanaka. 

She took her time to open it and drink of it. 

 

She needed a moment. 

 

Aina just sat in her chair quietly with her smile long gone, it seemed that she understood Nanaka’s dilemma.

The Chief of staff just sat across them on his desk. 

While Nanaka gave slow sips to her bottle trying hard to move the gears of her mind. 

 

This was a complex situation. 

Nanaka was in a terrible position, not happy about failing in almost everything productions had asked to do, from not being the character they designed to fail in the dancing and singing to even fail in the popularity poll... now they were asking her to do something actually very easy, but she just can’t do it. 

So she has to fail again in what they were asking her to do.

Again.

 

But how can she explain why she had to fail on this new task? 

Well, she can’t. 

She can’t tell the Chief of staff that she is dating one of the members, or that she is dating anyone. 

It’s against the rules and she signed a contract, so this is out of the question. 

 

But, agreeing to play along and start to be an item with Aina, it will destroy her relationship with Shuka, and God knows how hard had Nanaka and Shuka been working to make this relationship to work, even if it’s not quite done. 

Forget the years groups or the Subunits, this wasn’t into Nanaka’s mind, to begin with.

 

So what’s more important; her career or her relationship with Shuka? 

 

_ My career of course!  _

 

But, she just can’t appear one day and tell the members that she is in love with Shuka and one hour later say that she loves Aina now. 

That didn’t make any sense. 

 

Not for her, and of course, not for the members.

Not even Shuka. 

 

_ These people are not stupid, they will figure out that this is as fake as my energy... _

 

Nanaka frowned and stopped drinking water. 

She fixed her sight on the Chief of staff; he had a concerned look on his face

 

“Are you any better Suwa-san?” He asked

Nanaka blinked a few times and without taking her eyes out the Chief, she closed the bottle 

“I’m better, thank you,” said Nanaka softly

 

Nanaka took a deep breath. 

 

Aina was weirdly quiet even for her, and Nanaka understood that this was due her predicament about what the hell was Nanaka going to do about this situation; of course, for Aina this was heaven. 

It was an opportunity to give Shuka what she deserved, to take advantage of this irrefutable order, to hold Nanaka, to take pictures with her, to be all lovey-dovey with her while Shuka just had to stay put and watch...

And watch with a smile on her face. 

Because orders are orders and for the sake of the show, they must do it. 

 

But this might destroy or discompose the relationship between the members; of course, Shuka is not going to be still and quiet watching how Aina might steal Nanaka away, of course, she is going to fight Aina about it, and now that the members know, they might take sides and everything could turn into chaos. 

Aina did warn Nanaka about this. 

 

_ No, this can’t be like this _

_ There must be a way to do my job and don’t hurt Shuka... _

_ At least not that much... _

_ So I have two options; appeal to my person or appeal to the members. _

 

It supposed that these people -meaning production-, its concerned about the wellbeing of the members, so they can’t force them to do something they are not comfortable with, right?

 

“Sir...”

Called Nanaka softly, Aina turned her head towards Nanaka while the Chief put himself more comfortable on his chair crossing his fingers in front of his face

“I think I have some observations about this... request...” said Nanaka finally 

The Chief of staff rose his eyebrows 

“Ok...I thought so, not everyone loses their colors because of something like this...I thought it was an easy task...” said the Chief with concern 

 

_ Yes, it’s an easy task, who wouldn’t want to flirt with a cute girl like Aina just for the fun of the fans? _

 

Nanaka shook her head.

 

_ Not now, you fool. _

 

“It–it’s not like that...” said Nanaka, “ I’m not comfortable doing it...I’m a demure person, I think I can’t flirt so boldly on camera...” she finished softly 

Aina made a sad smile while the Chief of staff grabbed his temples

 

“God save me, “ he started, “ Suwa-san, why?” He said lifting his sight again towards Nanaka, “ Why with you everything seems so difficult?” 

Nanaka bit her lips, 

“We changed ‘Kanan-san’ for you, your moves in the choreography were being changed, they are giving you more hours to record... and now you don’t want to cooperate? Sorry but I can’t allow this”

Nanaka grabbed the hem of her sweaty shirt,

 

“I think this is a task that’s easy for anyone of you to do; I’m sorry but I can’t be soft with you on this one, you have to do it, and you will learn to do it, remember that ‘Kanan-san’ has to be like that... maybe this can make ‘Kanan-san’ more popular too, so please Suwa-san, stop being a pain and try to do your job properly”

Finished the Chief of staff with his rough tone, of course, he had enough.

 

Nanaka nodded, just like she thought, she can let down production once again.

 

_ So, I can’t appeal to my person... _

_ Ok. _

 

“What do you think Suzuki-san?” asked the Chief towards Aina

“Eh?” snapped Aina surprised, she sat a bit more comfortable on her chair

“I don’t have any complaints about it... I think it’s a wonderful idea...” said Aina

 

_ Of course, it is! For you! You traitor!  _

_ Kanan is the one on the giving side, Mari, of course, is on the receiving side... _

_ So Aina doesn’t have to do a thing but to follow the flow... _

_ Dammit, Kanan!  _

 

Nanaka frowned once more ignoring what Aina was talking about. 

But hearing her tone Nanaka could assume that Aina was happy. 

 

So, Nanaka was running out of time; and she needed a strategy.

Aina being well aboard about this, it was going to be difficult to keep ignoring or trying to resist the fact that she might have to do this thing, even if she didn’t like it or she was against it, it was her job and she must do it...

But will be Shuka mature enough to understand this? 

 

Well...

She is not going to understand a thing if she sees Nanaka and Aina flirting in the first place! She will be mad, she would be bitching about this towards Nanaka like forever and then take it against Aina, and then Aqours would be hell...

 

What about telling Shuka? 

Fuck production orders, Shuka was her girlfriend, she deserved to know what was going on.

But, would she believe Nanaka’s words? That this was an order from production, that this isn’t something that she wants to do but she has to do it anyway...

 

_......... _

 

 

She is not going to believe her.

Because it’s Aina the one on the other side, and Nanaka knew that Shuka was jealous about Aina... so all of this could be an excuse for Nanaka to be close to Aina, or a twisted plan from Aina to be close to Nanaka...

Someone of production must tell Shuka, for her to understand that this is an order and not for whim.

 

_ So, I have to appeal to the members. _

 

“Suwa-san? You ok?” said the Chief of staff, he was standing up again, Aina also was doing some movements to stand up 

Nanaka blinked a few times and looked up straight to the Chief locking gazes. 

She had her serious “Suwa face”, this negotiation must be done in the most serious of tones. 

 

“Sir,” called Nanaka

Both, Aina and the Chief stopped their movements 

“I believe that for the sake of success in this task, we must tell the members” 

Finished Nanaka with a serious and low tone

Both, Aina and the Chief blinked a few times, then the Chief sighed tiredly and sat once again, Aina didn’t have another choice but to sat too. 

 

“Why?” asked the Chief in the serious tone too

“I think if the members know they can help,” said Nanaka 

 

_ And that’s why we told them about our relationship in the first place, for them to help us... _

_ Now it’s going to be very helpful... _

 

“Help?” The Chief asked

“Yes, think about it; isn’t going to be awkward for them to see us, Aina and I, doing some flirt with each other and not receiving a weird look from them? They should know that this is for the sake of the show...” 

“I think if you do it subtly they will be fine–“

“But then how boldly do you want us to flirt?” interrupted Nanaka, the Chief bit his lips, “ the pictures on Twitter, the holding hands, the hugs, those things can’t be subtly...” 

“Well you are right but I can’t see how they can be any help...because if it’s just for avoiding some weird looks...” he tried

“If they are aware of this, they can even give us more material to work with; I know Komiya-san it’s a sharp actress, she being with us in the ‘Third years’ group can be very useful... “

The Chief hummed, Aina looked at Nanaka with her eyes open wide

 

_ Yes, I’ll have to rely on you Arisa... _

 

“If ‘First years’ know, they can even tease us about it, it can increase the flirting...” continued Nanaka

“Ok, go on...” said the Chief with an interested tone

“I, I can’t think right now on how actually ‘Second years’ can help us, but if Inami-san, our leader, knows too we can have a full support of the group...” finished Nanaka

“Suwawa are you sure?” asked Aina

 

Nanaka just ignored her; of course, for Aina was better for her to keep this thing low and between production and themselves, but Nanaka had to protect Shuka, at least the best she can in this inevitable task. 

 

“I think Aqours need to have this sense of unity that we still don’t have but we are building within ourselves...” started Nanaka once again, “ this will give the group a sense of complicity between each other... it will help us grow as a group...”

 

_ My, repeating Arisa’s words about my relationship with Shuka on this matter with Aina... _

 

“If all the members know about it, we can even be bolder on camera, we will feel more comfortable knowing that what we are doing is acceptable within them too...imagine if one of them is not ok with the ‘girlXgirl’ interaction and she founds that on the spot, it would look terrible, it’s better if everybody is cool about it...” finished Nanaka 

“Ok, I feel I’m getting your point...” said the Chief of staff with his right hand on his chin

“So, you are telling us that’s it’s better to act that our thing it’s like the most common thing?” asked Aina

“Yes, exactly,” said Nanaka 

“Makes sense...” said the Chief of staff softly 

“We want to be one with Aqours, it’s not fair with them to keep them in the dark with this when we will be working together...they will find out that this is fake eventually, why not telling them and prepare them too for them to work with us on this...?” said Nanaka calmly 

 

There was a full minute of silence where Nanaka could clearly see the gears of the Chief of staff mind working fast about this matter. 

Nanaka was sweating bullets; in a few minutes, she had to think in a complete strategy to convince the Chief of staff to tell the members, to tell Shuka, that this was something that production wants. 

Even if she promised the Chief to be bold about it. 

But how bold?

 

“Sir, may I ask the limits about how bold do you want us to be?” asked Nanaka, interrupting his thoughts

“Eh... well, not so bold, remember that you are Idols, you can’t kiss... that’s your limit; you can hold hands, hug, touch...but you must do it obviously, not subtly...”

Nanaka nodded

 

_ Thought so, it’s not that terrible... _

_ What is terrible is for Shuka to watch all of this... _

 

“Sir, may I suggest something?” asked Aina out of the blue, Nanaka turned her head to lock gazes with her 

“Yes Suzuki-san, something to add?” asked the Chief 

“Why just explode the ‘KanaMari’ when we have seven other characters?...” asked Aina; Nanaka opened her eyes in panic, feeling all the symptoms of fear coming back, “... I mean you can do this same thing with other characters like for example ‘ChikaYou’ or ‘YouRiko’” 

 

_ Aina, you look cuter in silent... _

_ Why the examples with You? Does she wants to see Shuka flirting too?... _

_ No... _

_ She wants ME watching Shuka flirt with someone else... _

 

Nanaka’s breathing started to agitate; the thought of watching Shuka being cute and adorable with someone else made her feel dizzy. The room started to spin. 

Somehow all the seriousness and the clear state of mind to have this negotiation jumped out of the window.

 

“Well,” started the Chief, “ is not that we haven’t thought about it... of course, the fans will start shipping all the characters even if they don’t have nothing romantically speaking... I can bet my head off that there will be people shipping ‘Dia-san’ with ‘Ruby-chan’ even if they are siblings... “ Aina and Nanaka opened their eyes wide, Yes, those kinds of people exists. 

 

“But we choose ‘Kanan-san’ and ‘Mari-san’ for a reason, at least to begin with; remember that these are reflections of the characters, the ‘Seiyū shipping’ can’t work if the characters are not compatible...right now the most compatibles are ‘Kanan-san’ and ‘Mari-san’; they are the matures on the group, both third years, and also makes more sense...and we already have some ‘ChikaRiko’ on the PV.”

“What about ‘Dia’?” asked Nanaka quickly, “ why not a ‘DiaMari’?

“Do you imagine Komiya-san like a caring person?” asked the Chief with a tired tone

Aina laughed like an old man 

 

“Ok, I got it...” murmured Nanaka 

 

_ So this is something that Arisa doesn’t fit... _

_ Makes sense, Dia isn’t the type too... _

 

“But, it’s something to have in mind Suzuki-san, maybe not yet, but sometime in the future? Besides if every Seiyū starts flirting with each other it will be totally fake...we want this to feel as real as possible”

“Oh, I see...” said Aina 

“So what are we going to do?” asked Nanaka trying to cut the chase 

“You had an interesting point Suwa-san...” said the Chief of staff, and finally he stood up, “ I’m gonna made a call, wait just a second” 

 

And with that he left the room, leaving the two girls on their chairs. 

Tension grew thick on the air. 

 

“What a mo–“ tried Aina

“Just what fuck is wrong with you?!” 

Asked Nanaka with an actual mad tone, Aina opened her big eyes wide in surprise.

 

“I’m trying my best here to protect my thing with Shuka and you just want to ruin it”

“What? Suwawa that’s not true... you want to tell the members this?!” snapped Aina

“Of course, What is Shuka going to think if she sees us flirting, and taking pictures of us and then put it on Twitter?! And the such?! She is gonna be mad!”

“Hold your horses! Why do you think she is not going to be mad anyways even if Chief tell her”

“Because it’s going to be a direct order from production and not something I made up! Or something that she casually finds out; I rather prefer that she is prepared than finding this out on camera”

“That’s why you didn’t want to do this? Because of Shuka? Suwawa what about your career?! You were willing to fail another order from production, again, because of the sake of this so well called ‘relationship’ you have with this kid”

“Of course! I tried...but since I couldn’t deny it, I have to make the most of it!”

 

Aina opened her mouth like a fish, opened and closed it a few times, her eyes opened wide, looking at Nanaka with an incredulous face. 

Nanaka was with her breath agitated, her cheeks red of anger, her prominent frown on her face, ready to scold Aina if it’s necessary again. 

 

But Aina just didn’t say a thing, she turned her sight to the Chief of staff’s desk, Nanaka did the same, but she adds in her low tone:

“And I don’t want to hear you calling Shuka a ‘Kid’ again... understood?”

Aina didn’t say a thing again, not even moved an inch. 

Maybe a full minute passed when Aina broke the silence

 

“Do you love her?” asked Aina softly without looking at Nanaka

“Yes, I do.”

“This... is going to hurt her...” said Aina 

“I know... it hurts me too” 

Answered Nanaka with clear pain in her voice, Aina turned her sight towards her with a worried expression, Nanaka locked gazes

 

“For the sake of doing the job, she has to know...and she has to bear with it” said Nanaka

“I’m sorry Suwawa...” said Aina with clear sadness 

“Just, stop being a pain about it...” said Nanaka taking her eyes away of Aina’s

“Aw, Suwawa, please, you know I’m worried too...”

“No you are not, you keep saying and doing things to screw us, why?”

“That’s not true... I told you this was going to be hard, I told you that you were playing with fire here! You can’t date a member! I warned you... but you didn’t listen!”

“I did listen, but I couldn’t help it,” said Nanaka softly 

Aina made a strong silence

 

“I know... me neither...” whispered Aina

Nanaka opened her eyes wide and looked at Aina; she had her sight glued to her tiny feet. 

She couldn’t help but make a sad face

 

Aina was in love too.

With her. 

 

This was so unfair, for everyone. 

Shuka has to watch how Nanaka has to flirt with Aina in a fake relationship but for all the world to see while Aina has to watch how Nanaka was having a real relationship with Shuka in the dark. 

And Nanaka has to watch how the two people she cared the most suffer, and because of her. 

 

“This wasn’t on my plans...” said Nanaka softly 

“What? What do you mean?” asked Aina now looking at Nanaka

“It was enough with the ‘years groups’ and now with the Subunits... to actually give Shuka another reason to be apart from me...”

“Oh, That...” said Aina with indifference,” I thought about to be in love with her...”

“Yes, That wasn’t on my plans either...”

“I think that love is a burden...” said Aina in a painful tone

Nanaka blinked

 

_ Being in love is a burden... _

_ Yes, in our jobs it is... _

_ But— _

 

“Suwawa I lov—“ tried Aina

“Alright girls!” 

Said the Chief of staff opening the door abruptly; both girls jumped on their seats, he stood on the door frame, the girls turned around, he had a goofy smile on his face

“Let’s tell the members the big news!”

Both girls nodded. 

 

 

They walked thru the halls of the building mostly following the Chief and giving to each other some glances. 

Nanaka was feeling the fear symptoms once again; now because of Shuka’s reaction. 

How is she going to take this news? How are the members going to take this too? 

Maybe Shuka can’t stand this and breaks up with Nanaka just for the sake of not being harm. 

That thought made her shiver. 

 

The Chief of staff made them enter the white room once again, of course, it was empty, all the girls where in the changing room, so he quickly moved towards the changing room to get everybody there. 

 

Nanaka took the time to gather her stuff and clean a bit her own mess, just because she was nervous and needed to do something, being still was messing with her head. 

 

“Suwawa...” called suddenly Aina, walking slowly towards her with her stuff in her hand

“What?” asked Nanaka softly not looking at her

 

Aina left her stuff near Nanaka’s and searched for her eyes 

“You don’t need to worry; you need to think about this as part of the job”

They locked gazes.

 

“Aina, it’s easy for you...what if Shuka don’t accept this and finally she breaks with me?”

“Then she doesn’t love you as you love her,” said Aina softly 

“What?”

“Suwawa, you are compromising your career, this is your job, and you have to do it, she has to understand...”

“But it’s going to be hard...”

“Then sacrifices must be made; both knew that this wasn’t going to be easy yet both of you agreed to keep going...” Aina’s words were smooth as silk 

Nanaka just made a bitter smile

 

“Suwawa, we can do it, let’s work hard together, if anything happens with Shuka or the members, I’ll get your back, I can guarantee that you will never be alone, we are in this together...” 

Said Aina with a serious tone but with a sweet smile, her words being pure and clear

 

“Thank you, Aina, but you are not the one who will be constantly breaking someone’s heart...”

Said Nanaka at the same time the Chief of staff entered the white room with a noticeable noise behind him, of course, that noise was from the members. 

 

Both turned around to see the members arriving fully changed into their normal clothes; Shuka was the first one to enter, locked gazes with Nanaka and smiled at her bright and wide, then she jogged to meet her. 

“Osuwa!” shouted Shuka

Nanaka smiled back and started walking to meet her

 

“Of course I’m breaking someone’s heart...” 

Nanaka heard from behind her; she stopped her steps

“My own” 

 

She just couldn’t turn around to see Aina. 

Her words got her like swords crossing her whole body.  

The only thing she could focus on was that Shuka was a few steps away from her with a bright smile and Aina was a few steps behind her with her heart broken. 

 

_ And now I’m going to break Shuka’s... _

 

Nanaka hugged Shuka to greet her, it was brief because Nanaka made it short.

“Shuka, the Chief is here too...” she whispered 

The Chief was focused on something with Anchan so he missed the hug, but later he called them to join him. 

 

“Everything ok Osuwa?” whispered Shuka walking with Nanaka

“I don’t know yet...” said Nanaka giving Shuka a sad look 

“Don’t...don’t scare me...” said Shuka, then she looked at Aina, she was walking slowly and very gloomy behind them,

 

“Is she ok? God, what the hell happened?” Shuka whispered again

“Shuka... “ called Nanaka softly stopping her steps right where the Chief told them to be, “no matter what, I’m with you, and you alone...” 

 

They locked gazes, Shuka’s smile faded and a worried face was there instead

“And remember that this is work.”

Nanaka finished. 

 

Shuka couldn’t ask or say a thing, the Chief of staff started apologizing about calling everybody there again, despite all the teasing ‘First years’ were doing he managed to remain them quiet. 

The members then shared some worried expression between each other and lastly locking gazes with Nanaka and Aina; both were standing beside each other (Nanaka in the middle of Shuka and Aina of course), Nanaka was with her ‘Suwa face’ while Aina had a clear sad one.

 

Even if this was a “good” news for Aina and the project, it seemed that Aina understood the sacrifices that this implied. 

Everyone’s heart. 

 

The Chief of staff started telling them almost the same speech they received in his office, all that ‘Jolks’ talk and such; it was interesting to see the members reactions on their faces, but basically everybody was nodding. 

 

From time to time, Aiai was the one making interventions asking foolish things, like if the  _jolks_ was real, of course, the Chief didn’t answer that. But King and Aikyan of course fooled around with everything Aiai said or asked, making the mood of this meeting to soften a bit. 

 

“...so, what I wanted to tell everybody is that production this time wants to have the control of this kind of things, and selected to explode the ‘KanaMari’, meaning Suwa-san and Suzuki-san characters...” said softly the Chief of staff, somehow the room became silent

 

Seeing that nobody moved an inch, in fact, everybody had concerned looks, maybe because they weren’t getting it at all, the Chief clarified the task.

 

“This means that from now on we want from Suwa-san and Suzuki-san to act as an item, to act close to each other, to hug, hold hands, take pictures and make the  _KanaMari_  rea–“

“What?!” snapped Shuka interrupting the Chief, she earned the freaked out look from everybody, including the Chief’s 

 

Shuka looked in panic at Nanaka, she was still with her “Suwa face” patiently hearing how Shuka’s heart was crashing on the floor

“Osuwa!”

“Shuka let him finish...” said Nanaka in a low tone without looking at her

“Saito-san, please?” said the Chief

 

Shuka gave Nanaka a panic with a mix of sadness look, then she returned her gaze to the Chief 

“Sorry” she apologized. 

 

“Ok, so, what I was saying is that from now on Suwa-san and Suzuki-san have to ‘pretend’ to be an item, to be close to each other, as all of you might know, ‘Kanan-chan’ is good with hugs, so this will help Suwa-san to make her job easy; she will need to hug, touch, and of course, take a lot of pictures together, and made the fans happy with a 3D version of ‘KanaMari’” 

Finished the Chief with a happy and excited tone, almost if this was the greatest idea ever.

 

Everybody shared a worried expression with each other, even Aiai shut up. 

They were silent reading each other’s mind. 

This wasn’t good. 

Now that everybody knew that Shuka and Nanaka were a couple, a real one, this was hard to swallow. 

 

“Eh? Why are you all so serious?” asked the Chief concerned 

“So this is for the fans?” asked Arisa serious, and then she looked at Nanaka with a worried face

“Yes, just for the fans” answered the Chief and after seeing the worried expression from everyone he added, “and I’m afraid it’s not something they can refuse, it’s mandatory…” 

 

Nanaka and Shuka looked at each other with the corner of their eyes; Nanaka telling her that she didn’t have a choice and Shuka understanding that at least Nanaka tried to refuse to do it. 

Or at least that was Nanaka thought. 

 

All the girls started murmuring things and giving Shuka and Nanaka some sad glances, the only ones who weren’t murmuring were Nanaka, Aina and Shuka.

Aina was with her sight glued to the floor, Nanaka was with her “Suwa face” and Shuka was clenching her fists and teeth with a prominent frown. 

 

“Why?!” 

Suddenly Shuka snapped and shut everyone in the room earning once again every look from the girls 

 

“Why What Saito-san?” asked the Chief 

“Why them? Why not use another paring?” asked Shuka with a mixed tone of sadness and anger, “ why not use, I don’t know, ‘ChikaRiko’ as they used them for the PV”

“What?!” asked Arisa in discomfort 

Anchan and Rikako shrugged

 

“Well, That paring can’t be used for what we are thinking of, and we already use them in the PV,” said the Chief calmly 

“And what do you want them for?” asked Aiai with curiosity 

“Yeah, why to give them Seiyū action if they already have the characters?” asked Aikyan  

“Because it sells better,” answered the Chief of staff, “ and besides, like it or not, the fans will ship all of you anyways, we are just giving them what they want, this is just to impulse the project”

“Then use other characters, ‘You-chan’ is our most popular character now,” said King, Nanaka gave her a death glare 

“Not helping King” murmured Aiai at her side

“‘First years’ and ‘Second years’ are not used for our propose just yet” answered the Chief now a bit tired

“Why is that?” Interrupted Anchan

“Because they are so pure and innoce–“ tried the Chief

“Then use ‘Dia-san’!, Komiya-san can do it right?!” snapped Shuka

“Hey! What?” jumped Rikako looking with a frown at Shuka 

“I think I can’t fit in that task...” said Arisa softly beside Rikako, both shared a sweet smile

“What? Why? You are a ‘Third year’ too” pointed Shuka towards Arisa

Then everybody broke into madness, everybody started to talk at the same time making chaos inside the room 

 

Nanaka blinked tiredly, this was out of control.

All the members started arguing about something that it’s unarguable; production wants the ‘ _KanaMari_ ’. 

Period. 

 

But this looked very good on the group, the seven of them were arguing because they wanted to “free” Nanaka from this task because they knew this would cause trouble with Nanaka’s and Shuka’s relationship. 

Meaning that it was a good idea to tell the members minutes before this madness broke out.

 

But of course, the Chief of staff didn’t know that, so for him, this was a waste of time and efforts. 

 

“Very helpful Suwa-san...” 

He said towards Nanaka and Aina who were the only ones quiet looking at this madness. 

Aina giggled, Nanaka sighed. 

 

_ Well, they ARE helping us out, Shuka and I... _

 

“Alright Alright! End this right now!” 

Shouted the Chief of staff clapping and making everybody quiet. 

“Good Lord!” He said sighing 

 

Everybody looked at him with a bit of shame

“Girls, we are not asking your opinion, and of course I don’t need to give you any reasons! You obey! And that’s it” he said with his harsh tone

“We wanted to recreate the ‘NozoEli’ from μ’s, and the ‘Jolks’ and the characters that fit that, are ‘Kanan-san’ and ‘Mari-san’, period.” He made a brief pause 

 

“Komiya-san is right, ‘Dia-san’ doesn’t fit that role, meaning that Komiya-san can’t do it too; we have the advantage that ‘Kanan-san’ is a caring character that likes to hug, and ‘Mari-san’ is bold and reckless enough to tease ‘Kanan-san’ about it” 

Somehow every look was on Aina.

 

“Because of this, is why ‘First years’ and ‘Second years’ can’t do it; we want to go further than what we did with μ’s, we want to make them bolder”

“Bolder?!” repeated Shuka, “bolder how?”

“Hugging, holding hands, being lovey-dovey, pictures on Twitter...etc,” said the Chief calmly 

“Pic– oh my...” murmured Shuka grabbing her temples

 

Nanaka sighed softly, Shuka was being hurt; she just recalled how mad and jealous was Shuka because of her pictures with Izawa Mikako, her co-host of her radio show, on Twitter, those pictures being just normal pictures and now she has to take pictures with Aina, hugging and lovely close just for the sake of the project. 

 

“C’mon, it’s exactly what you have been doing so far with the pictures you were uploading to your Twitter’s accounts...but now we want to push you a little bit more...” said the Chief of staff

 

“Chief,” called Anchan with a serious tone, taking everybody’s attention, “if production had everything sorted out, then why are you telling this to us...the rest of the members? Isn't this something about Suwa-san and Suzuki-san?”

 

The Chief of staff blinked a few times, sighed and looked at Nanaka with a matter of fact face. 

Nanaka just blinked.

 

“Well, I thought that too, even production asked to retain this as a secret, but, Suwa-san insisted that for the success of this task we must tell the members...” he said in a tired tone

 

Shuka looked at Nanaka with a shy smile, and then everybody gave her a nod and some smiles, somehow everyone approved Nanaka’s decision to tell them, to make them part of this side of the project as well even if this doesn’t concern them directly. 

 

“For your faces I could say you agreed too,” continued the Chief, “I called production and told them what Suwa-san told me of how the rest of you could be helpful on the matter, they agreed, and that’s why I’m here telling you this...” he finished with a tired tone

 

“So, how can we be useful?” asked Aikyan 

“Yes, how can we help?” asked Aiai

“Well at first, now knowing is a thing,” said the Chief recovering his harsh tone,” I guess that now that all of you know what they had been asked to do, you will not freak out if they start hugging or touching each other; let’s say, they need your support”

“Men, it’s the day of being ‘useful’, ‘helpful’ and to support people...” said King with a sigh

“Save it” scolded Arisa towards King 

 

“Aqours is one group, and you will have to act like one; this will help you achieve a sense of unity, as Suwa-san said, now that all of you know, you can help them whether is acting cool towards them or to tease their ‘relationship’ on camera; we want to explore this side of Aqours too...if this succeed and actually make an impact on the fans, then we can use the rest of you.” 

concluded the Chief of staff.

 

“So basically they are guinea pigs,” said Arisa in her diligent tone

“Well, production chose the ‘strongest’ wannabe couple from the nine of you, also the one who fits better with being bold, we need to create a new ‘NozoEli’, but girls, this doesn’t mean that the rest of you can’t interact with each other...” said the Chief now rubbing his eyes, it seems that he was at his limit with this subject 

 

“Eh? What is that supposed to mean?” asked confused Rikako

“Means that...,” he sighed

“...remember that you are interpreting high school teens from fifteen to seventeen years old, all of them are close and friendly friends; you will grow to be close and friendly friend with each other too, so it will look good if you start being caring with each other too... the difference will be in how bold and daring will be Suwa-san and Suzuki-san with each other...” 

“He means that we can hug and hold hands too, but not so obvious” clarified Arisa

“Yes, exactly,” said the Chief with a tired tone. 

 

Everybody looked at each other with some complicity smiles and nodded. 

The Chief smiled proudly 

 

“Well, with that said,” 

He turned to Nanaka and Aina

“Girls, do your best, remember I want those pictures to be close and lovely; on the campaign try to flirt too...it will be good with the fans, remember that you will need a ‘shipping name’ too, get creative” 

 

He walked to the door where he stopped abruptly and turned around to face the girls once again.

“If any of you has any good idea for this two ‘lovebirds’ to be even closer, please don’t hesitate to suggest them, anything can help, we will be counting on you, thank you for your hard work!” 

And he left. 

 

For just a moment, the silence was around the room. 

For Nanaka, the freaking symptoms of fear kicked her again; now the bomb was just being thrown and it was a matter of seconds for Shuka to explode in anger about the whole of this. 

 

“Just what the hell?!” snapped Aiai in her high pitched tone 

“Men!” said Aikyan loosening her body, it seemed that everyone followed thru 

“Dude, seriously this was hardcore” murmured King 

“I don’t think I can manage more tension today,” said Arisa rubbing her temples 

 

Nanaka blinked, if someone was having tension today, it was her.

 

Nanaka looked at her right to see Shuka, ignoring the rest of the members' comments about this situation; she was massaging her temples too 

“Shuka...” called Nanaka softly

 

Shuka stopped the massage and looked at her, she was with a troubled look 

“I’m sorry...” said Nanaka with clear sadness, Shuka gave her a sweet smile

“Osuwa...it’s ok...” said Shuka getting closer and gently touching Nanaka’s cheeks, then she started to caress them softly 

“I just...I just couldn’t protect us enough...” whispered Nanaka

Shuka made the distance between them shorter, somehow both ignoring completely where they were and all the members around

“I think you did great” whispered Shuka back, 

Nanaka could feel Shuka’s soft breath against her lips; she was feeling dizzy, somehow her fear symptoms being replaced by symptoms of love, she wanted to kiss her there right now, and it seemed that Shuka was thinking the same thing

 

“Yo! Guys!” scolded Arisa

Both girls snapped out of the trance and separate from each other enough

“Sorry...” apologized both at the same time, indeed all the gazes of the members where on them, both of them had their cheeks as red as a tomato.

 

“Wow!” said Aiai

“So this is what they were talking about,” said King

“Good thing you guys told us about your relationship before...” said Rikako

“Yes, it was a good call,” said Anchan nodding 

Nanaka grabbed Shuka’s hand and entwined their fingers, Shuka smiled wide at her

 

“Ok, but this is giving us another problem”

 Said Arisa changing the mood, all gazes were on her

“One thing is to cover Suwa-san and Saito-san’s relationship and now we have to support this thing between Aina-san with Suwa-san, good thing you all three are in different Subunits”

Nanaka could feel how Shuka’s grip on her hand was tightening 

 

“Guys, I’m sorry,” started Nanaka, “ I know this was unfair and selfish to throw this new burden to all of you...” 

“I think you did right,” said Rikako looking for approval in Arisa, “it would look really weird if you tell us that you were dating Shukashuu and then you start flirting with Aina-san without a warning...”

Arisa nodded

“It would look so unfair to Saito-san,” said Arisa 

“I think it was the better option actually,” said Aiai in a serious tone, “ besides, there shouldn’t be any secrets within the group, we should support each other” 

“What do you think Shuka?” asked Anchan 

Every look was on her, the grip tightened once again 

 

“I... I still don’t know, I have some mixed feelings...” said Shuka softly 

“Shuka,” called Nanaka with the same softness, they locked gazes,

“If you are uncomfortable with this, we can break up,” said Nanaka not even thinking panicking from the pressure of the situation

“EH?!” snapped everybody, even Aina who was quiet at Nanaka’s left

 

“Suwa–“ tried some of the girls 

“What–“ snapped the others

“Osuwa...” said Shuka astonished 

“This is going to hurt you, and I don’t want to,” said Nanaka softly 

“But I’m already hurt...” said Shuka quietly 

Nanaka made a bitter smile 

 

“Oh c’mon!” 

Said Aina suddenly in her loud tone and moving away from Nanaka’s side

“Shuka, this is OUR JOB! It’s not the end of the world, so please let’s stop this drama” 

“Wha– Hey!”

Called Shuka now with a frown on her face, Aina stopped her steps and looked back at Shuka 

 

“What?! Shuka don’t be a  kid,  there’s nothing terrible, its just fiction! Pictures, some hugs! No big!” 

“It’s easy for you to say, you are not the one being hurt!” said Shuka now getting mad

Nanaka bit her lips

 

_ You are wrong...she is being hurt... _

 

Nanaka tried to hold Shuka on her place by tightening her grip on her hand

 

“And what a kid like you know!” said Aina now getting mad too

“Aina!” scolded Nanaka rising her voice with a mad tone

Shuka left Nanaka’s hand to move towards Aina 

 

“This was your idea, am I right?! This is your doing!” 

Said Shuka stopping right in front of Aina

“You wanted this! So no wonder you were so quiet!” 

 

“Shuka!” scolded Nanaka with the same mad tone as before

“Yo, Suwa-san, get your wives in place!” mocked Aiai

“Control your girlfriends” followed King

Both Aina and Shuka bit their lips stopping the argument, Nanaka blinked a few times, Anchan, Arisa and Rikako looked at each other with troubled looks.

 

“Guys you are not helping,” said softly Rikako, Arisa sighed tiredly 

“So who’s Suwawa’s mistress?” asked Aikyan to Aiai and King

“Good question,” said Aiai with her right hand in her chin, “should be Aina right?”

“But Aina is the one who will be on camera...so the world will see Suwa and Aina as a couple” answered King

“So, Shuka is the mistress?” asked Aikyan 

“But she is the official girlfriend” answered Aiai

 

“Ok, enough!” said Shuka angry “This isn’t funny!”

‘First years’ did laugh 

Nanaka made a bitter smile and saw how Aina gave her a sad look

 

“Girls, girls, cut it out...”

Said Anchan softly and moving towards Shuka and Aina to make more space between them 

“This isn’t something we should take lightly...”

“You got it leader!” said Aiai happily

“Furihata-san! Please!” scolded Arisa to Aiai

“Sorry, ‘onee-chan’...” said Aiai in Ruby’s voice

Anchan took a deep breath. 

 

“Guys...”

Started Anchan while moving her hands with a sign for the members to come closer, they made a circle

 

“Girls,” she said looking at Nanaka and Shuka, “you had trusted us, Aqours, a very important task... and I really appreciate it... this means a lot to me,” said Anchan with her right hand on her chest

“Your relationship it's going to be very precious to us, we will try our best to support it and help it in any way we can, right girls?” 

She asked looking at all the members, everybody nodded, everybody except Aina. 

 

“Our first task right now is to face this challenge,” continued Anchan, “ this is our job, and what production asks is an order, it’s law, and we have to agree,” she talked looking at Shuka

“If the Chief was here telling us this, it’s because it’s an order from production, there’s nothing we can do but to obey, so it’s not Ainya’s idea...” 

Shuka bit her lips; Anchan looked at Nanaka

 

“Suwa-san, thanks so much for trusting us, I know this must be difficult for you and it isn’t something you should face alone, you were right, we should face this...”

Anchan looked at everyone

“...as a group, as Aqours; we are nine here, we should support each other, we can move better if all are in the same page...” 

Everybody gave her a sweet smile, it seems that production was right, Anchan was meant to be Aqours leader.

 

“So! Let’s put this thing behind us,” Anchan continued now with a wide smile on her face

“Suwa-san, you can’t break up with Shu-chan at the very first moment the road gets hard,” she said looking at Nanaka; she smiled back and nodded, then Anchan looked at everyone, 

 

“That’s why we are here, to help; then, Shu-chan, you can’t blame on others when things didn’t get the way you wanted,” she said looking at Shuka, then she looked at Aina,

“Ainya, I rather prefer you stop saying that Shuka is a kid; there aren’t kids here anymore, we are nine strong girls! We are here to support each other, not to bring them down...” 

“I’m sorry Anchan...” murmured Aina softly 

“It’s not me the one you have to apologize....” said Anchan sweetly; Shuka and Aina shared some shy looks.

“And finally,” said Anchan looking at ‘First years’, 

“You three are dangerous! Please think about the members' feelings too; it’s not a funny situation for Shu-chan and Suwa-san for you to start fooling around...”

“Don’t be so serious Anchan” tried King

“It was just a joke!” said Aikyan 

“Yes, but you hurt people’s feelings” finished Arisa in her scolding mode, and that was enough for those two to shut up 

 

“Ok, well, that’s it”

Anchan giggled 

“Let’s put this behind us, and let’s do our best!” She concluded with energy 

Everybody shouted a loud “Yes!” And finally, they clapped. 

“You know” started Aiai now with the mood more calmed,” we should totally go out tomorrow and celebrate Suwawa’s birthday... we couldn’t do anything for her” 

Nanaka rose her eyebrows, it wasn’t necessary 

“Yes! That’s a great idea! We should go altogether after practice tomorrow!” Said Anchan with energy 

“What do you think Suwawa?” asked Aiai

Nanaka just nodded and smiled sweetly at them, this was nice from them too. 

“Ok it settled!” said Anchan 

 

They broke the circle to leave the room, Nanaka walked to grab her things next to Aina; both shared a shy smile, and later they walked out the white room with everyone and started walking towards the changing room, the mood finally being restored.

 

Anchan was talking with ‘First years’ about their next trip to Hiroshima that weekend for the second session of ‘First years’ campaign; after mocking hard about Rikako and her suggestions to Aiai to use a passport for domestic flights, the foolish trio was complaining about their last flight, because their seats didn’t have any windows, so they couldn’t see a thing of the scenery. 

 

Suddenly Nanaka felt her arm being grabbed; she jumped in surprise, of course, Shuka was clinging to her arm

“Shuka...” called Nanaka sweetly, both shared some sweet smiles 

“How are you feeling?” asked Nanaka

“Uhm, better... kinda sad too...” answered Shuka in a low tone

“Why? What’s wrong...?”

“Well, first...” she started a bit troubled, “we are not together in the Subunit...”

“Yes...” said Nanaka in a monotone 

“And you were a bit mad at me... because what I said...”

Nanaka didn’t say a thing, she was just seeing the door of the changing room at the end of the hall meaning that soon everybody will left.

 

“Suwawa, it makes me sad being apart from you, you know that, these weeks with the campaign and that...” said Shuka with a clear sad tone

“It’s ok Shuka, you really fit with those looneys...” 

Shuka giggled 

“And second...this thing with Ainya...” said Shuka softly seeing Aina getting inside the changing room 

“I know... it bothers me too...”

“I wish...maybe I should...made the audition for ‘Mari-san’...” said Shuka with sadness

“Stop it,” said Nanaka with strong tone and stopping her steps too, they arrived at the changing room 

Shuka bit her lips and both locked gazes

 

“Well, see you tomorrow, remember we will celebrate!” said Aiai waving her hand next to them with King and Aikyan

“Have a great evening!” said Rikako walking with Arisa, Arisa just nodded 

“See you lat– Eh? Shu-chan are you not coming?” asked Anchan who just walked by

“Eh...” mumbled Shuka looking at Anchan, then she looked at Nanaka

“Go with her...” said Nanaka in her monotone

“No,” said Shuka, then she looked at Anchan, “ I’ll wait for Osuwa” 

“You sure?” asked Anchan, Shuka nodded. 

“Well then, see you later!” almost shouted Anchan jogging to catch the rest of the members 

 

“Are you sure you don’t want to go too?” asked Nanaka

Shuka shook her head

“I’m ok, I want to be with you...” Shuka smiled

“About what you said...” started Nanaka,” how could you know that this would end like this? You really think that Aina wanted this? Shuka, in the eyes of every member, you are the victim and she is the villain... she must be feeling terrible...”

“Ow, If you put it that way...” said Shuka softly 

“Besides, you wouldn’t have won the popularity poll, and you would have ended in eighth place...” said Nanaka in a mocking tone

Shuka giggled 

“You are an amazing ‘You’, you will be an incredible Center, and you will make your unit proud,” said Nanaka with a smile, she really meant it 

“But it seems that our characters will have nothing in common...” said Shuka with a gloomy tone

“We already knew that Shuka...and we both wanted to carry on” answered Nanaka lovely 

They shared some gazes and some smiles 

 

“I want to kiss you... “ whispered Shuka “maybe I should take a shower again....” said Shuka getting closer 

“You can’t...Aina is in there...” said Nanaka narrowing her eyes

Shuka stopped and sighed

“Right...” Shuka scratched the back of her neck, “ Osuwa... when is your next campaign?”

“December, why?” said Nanaka opening the changing room 

“Well, If ‘First years’ campaign is this weekend...and my last one was last weekend in Nagoya...that means, I’m free this weekend...and so do you...”

 

Nanaka walked in at her pace into the changing room; Aina’s stuff was resting on a bench and the showers were on use, meaning that Aina was already inside the showers. 

Nanaka stopped in front of her locker and managed to open it. 

“What are you suggesting...?” asked Nanaka 

“We should go on a date this weekend; let’s go to  _Minato Mirai_ ,” said Shuka sitting on the bench

Nanaka turned to see her and smiled at her lovely

“I would love too” 

 

Shuka made some sounds of joy and of course, she smiled wide and bright

Nanaka turned again to start undressing and getting ready to the showers, somehow the room becoming really silent except for Aina’s shower.

 

Nanaka put her towel around her and turned once again catching Shuka with her eyes glued on her, somehow she forgot that Shuka was still there; she opened her eyes wide

 

“My...” said Nanaka surprised

“What?... I love it...” said Shuka with her smile once again

Nanaka didn’t say a thing, her cheeks becoming bright red, she started walking to the shower

“Osuwa...” called Shuka; Nanaka stopped her steps to look at her, “can I...stay with you tonight?”

Nanaka blinked a few times and smiled sweetly

 

_ After this hell of a day... _

_ Yes, I need lots of cuddles... _

 

“Of course sweetie...” said Nanaka with a smile and then she walked into the showers. 

 

She got to the stall, left her towel in the hanger and her shower stuff near and before she could turn on the water, she could hear softly whimpers and sobs. 

Nanaka opened her eyes abruptly, feeling a cold sweat on the back of her neck 

Someone was crying.

Aina was crying. 

 

Nanaka blinked a few times, the cold getting inside her bones now; she made a bitter smile and closed her eyes. 

 

_ What should I do? _

 

Nanaka started to debate with herself, what was the right thing to do in this situation, that damn feeling of fear again; 

Go out of her stall to comfort Aina? 

Naked. 

Both of them naked and with Shuka waiting right outside the showers. 

What if she sees them? How can she explain that? This is not mandatory... production didn’t send the order, just happened that Nanaka wanted to be a good friend, but, comforting each other on the showers... 

This wasn’t the time, Nanaka just couldn’t go and help her out right now, and knowing Aina, the very first second she steps out of the stall she will be with a bright smile like nothing had happened.

 

This time Nanaka had to pass, this time Aina had to suffer alone.

 

This was her fault. 

She couldn’t take it, and with shaking hands, she turned on the water letting all the hot water fall over her. 

 

Aina was a good friend since the project started she had been there with her, supporting her, cheering for her, watching her... worried about her.

And what has she done for Aina? Nothing. 

She keeps scolding her, she keeps pushing her apart, she keeps treating her like crap, like someone annoying that needs to be shut. 

And now, she broke her heart 

This wasn’t fair. 

 

Nanaka brought her hands to her face and started crying too. 

 

_ I’m the worse... _

 

 

 

.

 

 

 

.

 

 

 

——-**0. December 2015. 0**——

 

 

November ended in the blink of an eye, and finally, December was there with all the Christmas decorations and the such. 

Also, this meant that the campaign would soon end and that there’s just one month left for the Aqours event on January. 

 

It was Sunday, December 6th, and it was ‘Third years’ third day of the campaign, in Osaka. 

Indeed this weekend was madness. 

 

They started traveling to Fukuoka Prefecture, on Friday night, because on Saturday they had their second day of campaign at Hakata Gamers. 

It was madness, lots of fans, lots of things to do, indeed was fun, but it seemed a little bit overwhelming for Nanaka. 

Getting used to this kind of pressure and timings, was kind of hard. 

 

Later that same day they traveled to Osaka, meaning they crossed the whole country. 

They stayed at a nice hotel, of course, the three of them had to share a room, but since this was kind of something new for Aina and Nanaka they dropped dead on top their beds at the very first second. 

Arisa being an actress for far more time had better training on this. 

 

So, today, it wasn’t going to be easy; First was a session on Nanba Gamers till midday, and later on, the afternoon was the session on Ebisubashi Tsutaya, where was even more madness. 

 

Before the show started they got interviewed, it was a surprise for Nanaka; it seems that it was hard for her to have a real dimension of what she was getting into. 

The whole place was crowded waiting for them to appear, the cheering, the fans, the merchandise, she even got fan letters!

She was overwhelmed for the second time that weekend, now she understood why Shuka was all over the top when the campaign started. 

 

“Girls! 30 minutes to go!”

Shouted the Chief of staff popping into the changing room and then he closed it quickly. 

 

“I think that guy is the most stressed man in the world” 

Said Arisa calmly with three white boxes in her hands walking towards a long table where Nanaka and Aina were sitting; Nanaka was finishing painting her nails with an emerald polish while Aina was reading her fan letters. 

 

“Well, he has to be...” said Aina moving her letters around “ everything here works like a clock because of that man’s stress” 

Nanaka giggled and then they shared some cute smiles 

 

After that day on the showers, of course, Nanaka didn’t say a thing to Aina about that she had heard her or why was she crying; no, she played it cool. 

But she tried to be nicer with Aina, and of course tried to don’t talk about her relationship with Shuka with her, they were close friends and all of that, but talking with Aina about it was just to bring her more pain. 

So here is where this campaign and all this traveling was worth for, in one hand gave them lots of new topics to talk about and in another one, it gave Arisa and Nanaka a new chance to be closer. 

And that was being a good thing so far because now Arisa could be a good listener for her if she had “Shuka issues”. 

So far, the chemistry within “Third years” members was good; all three really indoor types and nerds, so they shared some good and quiet talks, except for Aina who from time to time acted really weird and made them laugh their asses off. 

 

 

Arisa sat next to Nanaka and gave them a box to each one of them

“Oh, this smell nice~,” said Aina lifting her sight, “thank you Arisha~” she finished with a cute tone 

Nanaka’s heart skipped a beat 

“I thought you wanna try this,” said Arisa opening her box, she revealed it, it was a box full of Osaka’s classic Takoyaki

 

“Awwww~ I love it! Thank you so much!” 

Said Aina in her loud tone opening her box and without waiting any longer she started eating. 

Nanaka was blowing her nails for the polish to settle, while Arisa opened Nanaka’s box. 

 

“It’s going to be ok to be eating 30 minutes before the campaign starts?....thank you Komiya-san,” asked Nanaka while blowing her nails 

“We haven’t eaten, we need this,” said Arisa removing some sticks from the Takoyaki 

“Why you keep calling her by her last name?” asked Aina putting another ball in her mouth 

“Respect for my elders,” said Nanaka blowing

Arisa looked at her with her eyes open wide with an outraged look, then both giggled. 

 

Suddenly Nanaka’s phone rang; it was a message, she carefully took her phone trying hard to don’t mess her nails. 

The message was from Shuka asking how was everything going on over there. 

 

“Everything ok?” asked Arisa taking a bottle of green tea 

“Yes, it’s Shuka,” said Nanaka with a goofy smile on her face, she could feel some dark aura across the table where Aina was seated

“Oh, is it her day off?” continued Arisa 

“Yes, she stayed home apparently...” said Nanaka with a bit of trouble with her phone, she took a picture of hers and Arisa’s box of Takoyaki, and then send it to her. 

“Oh, she must be bored then...” said Arisa taking a ball from her box and eating it 

“Well, she is always thinking about work... even if it is her day off...” said Nanaka typing carefully on her phone, “ so no wonder if she texted me, she must be thinking on the campaign...”

“Can be that she misses you and that’s it?” said Aina softly, she gained a few looks from Arisa and Nanaka

 

Aina blinked a few times and then she put another Takoyaki into her mouth shrugging. 

The phone rang again, another message, this time was a picture of Shuka’s dog inside her bed. 

Nanaka curled the tip of her lips, indeed was adorable

 

“No way, is that Shuka’s bed?” asked Arisa swallowing a Takoyaki  and of course, looking into Nanaka’s phone

“Yes, its name is Shur- Hey!” snapped Nanaka, while Arisa took her phone away from her hands

“It’s that Tom & Jerry? Does Shuka have Tom & Jerry sheets?!” asked Arisa amused

“What?! Let me seeeeeeee letmeseee” said Aina moving her arms and hands to Arisa

Arisa gave her the phone and Aina broke into her old man laughter. 

 

Nanaka deadpanned, and tiredly she grabbed a Takoyaki and ate it. 

Arisa returned Nanaka’s phone to its owner 

“My, Suwawa she IS a kid...” said Aina still laughing 

“I can’t help you on this one…Aina-san is right” said Arisa

Nanaka didn’t say a thing and put her phone away. 

 

_ I think my sheets are even more childish than Shuka’s... _

 

“I think I saw that picture before...” said Aina eating another ball, “ isn’t in her Twitter?” 

“Shuka’s?” asked Arisa eating too 

“Yes, I think I saw it yesterday...” said Aina swallowing 

“Oh, That means that, “ Arisa swallowed, “ that picture is old...”

“Is another one” said Nanaka taking another ball, “ I saw that picture too on her Twitter “

“Oh,” said Aina

“Twitter uh?” said softly Arisa 

“I’m surprised that you don’t have Twitter,” said Aina towards Arisa,” you being a model, actress and all of that...” 

“I don’t get those kinds of things... I don’t know how to use it” answered Arisa eating

“See? Respect for the elders...” said Nanaka again taking another ball. 

“It’s not that...” tried Arisa to defend herself 

“If you don’t have any social media and such how are you going to upload all our pictures?” asked Aina with concern, but her sight was full focused on the Takoyaki 

“Right… yesterday we took a lot of pictures… where are you uploading them?” asked Nanaka eating

 

Arisa made a pause, a long one.

So Aina and Nanaka shared some amused looks to each other, it was weird for Arisa to stay quiet. 

Both looked at her with their eyebrows rose; Arisa had her cheeks red in embarrassment and took another Takoyaki

 

“We even took some selfies…” said Aina now trying to don’t break into her old man laugh 

“Ok, ok….I don’t have any social media…I don’t get them!” said Arisa embarrassed 

Nanaka giggled while Aina finally broke into her laugh 

 

“Mou…” complained Arisa pouting

 

_ Who has ever thought that Arisa could be that of a dork... _

 

“If you were troubled you should have asked us…” said Nanaka with a goofy smile on her face

“Yeah! Suwawa is always uploading stuff” said Aina finishing her Takoyaki

“My, were you hungry?…” 

Asked Nanaka towards Aina; she just gave her a shy smile, Aina sure loved to eat, then she looked at Arisa

“It’s not that I upload a lot of things, but sure I’m active on Twitter…” 

“I...I see…” said Arisa softly eating

“How do you know I’m that active?” asked Nanaka towards Aina

“Well, I follow you…?” said Aina moving her Takoyaki box to the side to keep reading her fan letters, “ and I like your pictures, you are cute”

 

Nanaka blinked a few time not even tasting the Takoyaki she just ate, and it seemed that Arisa stopped eating too. 

Both looked at Aina; Nanaka with her cheeks red of embarrassment and Arisa with an incredulous look.

 

“What?” asked Aina looking at them, “ you are cute… what?! I said it! You are cute Suwa Nanaka”

Finished Aina with a strong voice

Nanaka bit her lips feeling some weird things in her belly

 

“Oh, now that you say that,” said Arisa with a goofy tone, “ you haven't done anything bold on camera!”

Nanaka deadpanned her, and Aina brought her hands to her mouth 

 

“What?… Suwa-san, you have to do it…Aina-san you too, those are orders…” said Arisa now drinking of her tea

“I...I know…” said Nanaka softly, now feeling that she had enough Takoyaki

“What’s wrong Suwawa?” asked Aina

“I don’t want to do it…” said Nanaka softly

 

Aina blinked a few times with a sad smile, while Arisa sighed softly 

“I’m sorry Suwawa, but we must do it…” said Aina 

“I know, but… I don’t know how…” said Nanaka troubled, then she looked at Aina “ I…I don’t want to hurt Shuka” 

Finished Nanaka looking at her box with sadness in her voice, somehow all colors fading away with this sense of fear once again.

 

Aina blinked but was Arisa who brought the colors back when she left her bottled tea with a strong thump on the table. 

Nanaka jumped on her seat

 

“Stop it Suwa-san!” said Arisa now looking at her “You have to leave your feelings at home, you are here to work” 

“Suwawa… I think you are over feeling this” said Aina now grabbing her fan letters 

“What? how…why?…” Nanaka asked

“Suwawa, I don’t think Shuka is that of a child to don’t know how this world works…” said Aina, Arisa looked at her with a concerned face 

“Wha-What do you mean…?” asked Nanaka with fear

“You are overprotecting her…” said Arisa now with a tired tone “ she has to grow, she has to make mistakes too, and she has to bear this, this is your job, you can’t keep failing at it because it might 'hurt her’…” finished Arisa even doing the quotes with her hands

“What about you?… are you hurt?” asked Aina softly

“What? me?…why I should be the on—“

“Oh c’mon!” said Aina now with a hard tone, she even dropped her letters on top of the table while standing up 

“Aina-san?” asked Arisa concerned, Nanaka looked at her with her “Suwa face”

 

“Look at me in the eyes, and tell me that you didn’t get hurt by her pictures of their last campaign,” said Aina with a serious face, looking straightly to Nanaka’s eyes and soul. 

Arisa looked at Nanaka with her lips tightened; Nanaka had her straight face. 

 

_ Did it hurt?…   _

 

It was that same day, the day they received the order to start flirting with each other. 

Shuka uploaded the pictures of the “Second years” last day of campaign that was held on that weekend. 

There were mostly pictures of the three of them, but sure, Shuka uploaded a lot of pictures with Anchan. 

Close to her… fooling with her… 

At that moment she just thought that they were cute, but nothing more...

 

Nanaka’s right eyebrow twitched. 

 

“Suwa-san?…” called Arisa

“Suwawa…?” called Aina

Nanaka blinked a few times

 

It did hurt. 

And there she was worried about hurting Shuka when she had hurt her first. 

 

Nanaka closed her eyes, took a deep breath and then she looked at Aina straight into her eyes

“So, how should we be calling our thing?”

Aina curled the tip of her lips, and then she sat again. 

 

“If they wanted to recreate the ‘ _KanaMari_ ’, it should be something with your names on it…like  _Jolks,_  right?” said Arisa

“SuwaAinya?” said Aina

Nanaka hummed with a frown 

“Too obvious?” asked Aina

“A bit long?” said Arisa

 

Nanaka remained silent, her thoughts were around how Shuka did upload those pictures the very same day they got the news about Aina and her to start flirting with each other; was this a sign of jealousy? revenge? like if Nanaka must do it, then Shuka should do it too? 

Thought so, Shuka wasn’t going to take that lightly, she counterattacked the Chief’s order even if Nanaka hadn’t done anything yet. 

Like “ I do the harm first to don’t be hurt later”

 

_ Good Lord... _

 

“...What about it? do you like it?” Nanaka heard snapping out of her mind

“Sorry, what?” asked Nanaka looking at Arisa

“NanaAinya” repeated Arisa

Nanaka blinked a few times, then looked at Aina who was with a goofy smile on her face. 

 

“Ok,” said Nanaka softly

“Oh really?!” asked Aina with a happy tone

“Yeah, sure,” said Nanaka closing her box, she couldn’t finish her meal 

“Alright then!” said Aina in a more cheerful tone

“Ok, let's take a picture then…” said Arisa closing her box too, “ let’s took one of the three of us then one of you two?”

“Aww sounds nice Arisha~,” said Aina with a happy tone

Nanaka just blinked, actually she felt dizzy, like in the clouds; seemed that she just didn’t care about the name, the picture or even the campaign anymore.  

 

Suddenly the door opened again with the head of the Chief popping out

“Girls! five more minutes!”

And then he closed it. 

 

The girls moved out of the table and sat on a black couch. 

Aina in the middle because she was the shortest, Arisa at her left while Nanaka on her right. 

“Ok, I’m gonna take the picture…” said Arisa rising her hand for the selfie, “ eh…Suwa-san, you need to smile…ok...that’s better… why… hum, why you just don’t lean yourself a bit to Aina-san? …more close…closer… yes…ok… Cheese!”

And Arisa took the picture.

 

The three of them had a soft smile on their faces, but at least Nanaka’s head was close to Aina.

“Would this work?….” asked Aina to Arisa

Arisa blinked a few times 

“Well, I think you will get it with time…” said Arisa 

“This is not bold at all,” said Aina with an amused tone

Nanaka hummed 

 

Aina was right, Shuka’s pictures were even “bolder” than that, but…

“Now, you two, take a selfie,” said Arisa and gave Nanaka her phone

Nanaka and Aina shared a shy smile and then got closer, smiled at the camera and took the picture. 

 

It wasn’t bold. Not at all. 

But it was something. 

 

They dropped the topic there because they had to leave for the campaign, but until that moment Nanaka felt that she was like walking on clouds. 

Somehow all of this felt like an empty shell. 

 

 

The campaign was a total success. 

The next day, in the calm of her home and room, Nanaka uploaded the pictures, smiling faintly while looking at them. 

On the picture of her and Aina, she wrote “ **NanaAinya ( *˘ᵌ˘)♥…”**

Maybe the picture wasn’t bold enough…but at least what she wrote connoted an intention of love…?

Kind off.  

She sighed softly.

This surely would bring troubles with Shuka...

 

_ Well, there’s nothing else to do…but to do the job… _

_ There’s no turning back… _

 

And she pressed the enter button.  

 

.

.

 

 

What was left of December was hectic, between practice and the last days of the campaign which ended on December 13th. 

Later was just practice for their event in January, in between, of course, they had some activities out of the project that they enjoyed as a group, like Aikyan, Rikako and Nanaka going to Sanrio Puroland to see the Christmas decorations. 

 

Also, Nanaka and Shuka shared some dates too; it was hard for them to find the time, the mood, and a place to have them, but they did, even if they had to face some “disagreements” from time to time.

Of course, about this new “NanaAina” thing.

 

But what was important was practice.

They indeed were excited, and with more reason after knowing that µ’s Final Love Live! was announced on the February issue of the Dengeki G’s Magazine. 

Even if they knew about it from the very first day - because their mere existence was because of this- now it was official; µ’s was going to end on March 31 and April 1 of next year with a huge performance in Tokyo Dome. 

And after their big shadow was them, Aqours. 

 

A bunch of kids chasing their shadow, and being afraid of a tiny event where they should sing 3 songs. 

 

Sounded terrifying. 

 

 

 

 

.

 

 

 

.

 

 

 

 

.

 

 

 

——-**0. January  2016 . 0**——

 

Finally, that day came. 

January 11.

 

The special event held in Tokyo, Akihabara to commemorate the end of the campaign. 

Every single practice, every single drop of sweat, frustration, and preparation was for this. 

The week before was hectic, full of rehearsals, preparations with the single’s outfits, vocal training, and stage training. 

This was going to be the very first time the 9 of them gathered in a stage to actually perform. 

Until now, they were on a stage by groups of 3 and just talking. 

 

It was one hour before the show started, and the changing room was madness. 

They had to put parts of the single’s outfit under their school uniforms, arranged their hairs according to their characters; for Nananka this wasn’t a challenge, Kanan had a ponytail; for Arisa and King, their characters had their hairs lose; Aiai she just were two pigtails; Rikako made a half bun, but what was a challenge were Aina’s braid, Aikyan’s bun, and somehow Anchan’s hair.   
She was really into having Chika’s charm. 

 

Of course, the ambient was a mix of anxiety and fear. 

The changing room was loud, between all the noises of preparations plus the girls talking nervously with each other.

 

Nanaka just had finished with her makeup when Aiai sat at her right.

 

“There are times like that, aren’t there?”

She said with her mocking tone, Nanaka just looked at her with her “Suwa face”, not saying a thing, sometimes Aiai was weirder than Aina.

 

“What?…” said Aiai, seeing that Nanaka just blinked at her 

“What is it?” 

Asked Nanaka now looking at her reflection on the mirror, her make up was right, her ponytail was right, she felt ready

 

“How do you do it?” asked Aiai with a soft tone

“Do what?” asked Nanaka looking at her thru the mirror

“Being this calm… you are the only one who is so chilled about it”

 

_ That's’ not true….I want to throw up… _

 

“I’m not,” said Nanaka softly

Aiai just rose her eyebrows

 

“Hey! Rikyako lets take a picture!” 

They heard; that was Shuka’s voice calling for Rikako to take a selfie, of course, unconsciously Nanaka turned to see them 

 

“How are you hanging with that?” 

Asked Aiai in her serious tone, Nanaka turned to face her

 

“Well… good I think…”  said Nanaka a little confused

“You know, I thought she was going to be more affected about this, but seems that is the other way…”  said Aiai standing up

Nanaka bit her lips

“It’s not like that…” tried Nanaka

“I get it, you don’t want to hurt her…” Aiai said with a tiny smile

 

“Aw!! this is great!” snapped Aina at Nanaka’s left with her loud and happy tone, the hairdresser just left and left Aina’s hair done 

“Look-look, Suwawa, it doesn’t have a wire!” she said looking at Nanaka and Aiai pointing out her braid in her head

Aiai laughed while Nanaka gave her a sweet smile

 

“That’s a surprise…” said Arisa with her monotone at Ainas’s left

“Right? I really thought it would have one…” said Aina still in a super loud mood

Nanaka blinked a few times still with her eyes glued into Aina

 

_ She…looks… _

 

“Beautiful…” said Nanaka softly, but enough for Aiai, Aina and Arisa to hear her 

 

There was something in Aina’s hair today, not just the braid, she had it silky and nice, it smelled good, it was a little bit curly too, Aina indeed looked beautiful, with her nice smile…

 

“Suwawa, are you drooling?…” asked Aiai with a mixed voice between mocking and seriousness 

Nanaka blinked a few times snapping out of her thoughts 

 

“This is great,” said Arisa taking her phone, “ Put yourself together, let's take a picture…” 

“Oh, okay!” said Aiai

“I think Aiai and Suwa-san have to stand…” said Arisa trying to capture the picture, “ get close to Aina-san…good…”

Arisa took a moment to look at them, then she smiled maliciously 

 

“Suwa-san…” called Arisa, Nanaka blinked “bring ‘Kanan-san’ to life today… start hugging us…”

“Eh? what do you mean Onee—“ tried Aiai but Nanaka understood immediately and hugged Aina from behind 

Aina said a soft “oh” while Arisa smiled wide

“Perfect, Cheese!”

And Arisa took the picture. 

 

Later it became the festival of the selfie; everybody started taking pictures with each other, trying different combinations too, Years group, Subunits pictures ( but no Subunit B) and a variety of fooling around pictures too, courtesy of “First years”. 

 

“Osuwa…” she heard softly by her side, of course, Shuka was there with a shy smile, “ can we…take one too?”

Nanaka smiled sweetly

“Of course,” Nanaka said, and Shuka took it.  

 

Somehow, that picture looked a bit sad, both smiles were shy, with a mix of fear and sadness. 

 

“Ok, everybody! stop everything you are doing! and come here to the table!”

Said suddenly the Chief of Staff with his harsh tone making everybody shut

 

Like if it was something inherited from the campaign everybody took a seat within years members formation. 

One of the Chief’s assistant started to pass some paper sheets.

 

“We are 30 minutes to start, let's review the script once more,” he said looking at his own sheet

Everybody nodded. 

 

“First we will have some ‘Drama’ intro; you will have to read behind the stage before coming up, the lines will be in a screen next to entrance of the stage, your lines will be on your characters colors, of course, you have to be on character...” he said, everybody nodded.

 

“Then you will be out on the stage; smile, laugh, cheer your fans, wave at them, let them know you are happy to be there…” he continued, then he turned to Anchan

“Inami-san, you will be the MC, we are counting on your leadership too…” 

“Ok!” said Anchan nodding, there was clear fear in her voice

“Remember that once you are out on the stage you ARE your characters, try to act like them the best you can…” 

“Yes!” answered all the girls in unison 

 

“Right, next, introductions; I hope everybody had memorized your introduction paragraph, it has to be on character!, the order of introductions will be in the same order as we had practiced, 'First years’ first till ’Third years’…”

The girls nodded.

“You still don’t have call & responds segment, so this will move faster…” he said still reading his paper

“Chief!” called Aiai rising her hand, the Chief nodded

“Can we call our nicknames after someone does her instruction? for the fans to know better our nicknames”

“How so?” asked Shuka  

“For example, you finish your introduction, then the rest of us call you ’Shukashuu’” said Aiai 

“Great idea!” said the Chief, the girls nodded

 

“Ok, after the introductions, there’s a welcome, where Inami-san, we are counting on you to do the MC, show them the lineup, and talk about the campaign…here you have few minutes to improvise a little bit, ask about how was it if you have some memories to share and such, have fun!”

Anchan nodded.

 

“After that, there’s an opening call, you had already practice that" he continued, everybody looked at their papers while nodding

“Later the music of ‘ _Kimi Koro_ ’ will start, for us, the staff set the tables and everything, while you wave to the fans and the sort…tried to move around the stage too”

Some of the girls giggle, mostly because of nervousness 

 

“Ok so, we entered in the talk segment; the first corner will be held by ‘Third Years’, your turns to talk are on yours characters colors, the MC here will be Komiya-san” 

“Yes!” said Arisa in her diligent tone

“This corner is called ‘ Uranohoshi Girls Academy Enrollment Guide', and consist in introducing your characters once again by writing down two things that describe them on a sketchbook” 

“EH! we have to draw?!” asked in panic Rikako

“Write, it says ‘Write’ here…” said Anchan

“Yes, we will give you the sketchbooks after we finished here, you will have 10 minutes to write that before going on stage…”  continued the Chief. 

“You will show them by turns, again, following the lineup and explaining your two charm points… get creative, and take your time on this one” 

He made a pause, while the girls looked at each other troubled. 

 

“Ok, so next segment will be held by ‘First years’, this time Furihata-san will be the MC, the segment is called 'Drama time', where we will give you three situations and you have to respond on them in character, after that we will give you a script written by Kimino Sakurako herself with ‘the right answer’…”

“Answer?” asked Aikyan 

“Well, with what would your character say for real… this is for you and the fans to see how well you know your characters” 

Everybody nodded. 

 

“A representative from each year will enact each of the situations, the line up is the following; Kobayashi Aika, Rikako Aida and Suwa Nanaka first, then Takatsuki Kanako, Inami Anju and Komiya Arisa, and for the last one, Furihata Ai, Saito Shuka, and Suzuki Aina, the turns will be decided by our special _Janken_ ” he concluded

 

The girls laughed about the _Janken_ ; while Nanaka, Shuka, and Aina shared a concerned look; Shuka and Aina will be like competing with each other…

 

“For the third segment an instrumental version of 'Step Zero to One' will be played and it will be your cue for the segment to start, its called 'PE Time', which will be held by ‘Seconds years', Inami san is the MC, this segment is easy, one year group have to act a subject and the other two teams have to guess… pretty easy”

The girls giggled. 

 

“Then, Inami-san will talk about the training camp, try to share some memories of it…” 

 

_ Memories… I have memories… with Shuka… kissing… and touch— _

 

Nanaka bit her lower lip, and shook her head, this wasn’t the time. 

 

“Then the VTR we shoot will be played while you change for the Live segment”

Then the tension rose up. 

 

Talking and playing around was kind of easy and manageable, it was the Live part that was giving them the fear symptoms. 

“The set list is what you have practiced so far, nothing new… later some closing words and that's it!”

He finished with a big smile on his face like this was nothing. 

 

All the girls shared a concerned look with anxiety and fear once again. 

The creepy assistant started passing some sketchbooks for the girls to start writing down the two charm points of their characters with some sharpies. 

 

“Girls, later on, you will hold your first Niconama show! so please look forward to it, because we will have a big announcement to make!” said the Chief of staff happily. 

The excitement in the room was on the roof.

Nanaka received her sketchbook and lazily she opened it. 

 

_ So, what should I write…? _

 

“I can’t write a thing, I feel like I have nothing on my mind…” said King across Nanaka on the table

“Just what you think it’s important for your character…” said Arisa in her diligent tone, and with the black sharpie writing something down.

“It can be anything right…?” said Shuka on the other side of the table

“Just anything related to your character…” said softly Rikako

 

Seemed that all of the girls were a bit troubled, or what it seemed anxiety, excitement or nervousness about the event made them even forget their own characters. 

 

Soon the room became silent with everybody on their respective sketchbooks; with sometimes making some small chitchat between years members. 

“Ok, I’m done,” said Arisa with her serious tone and giving her sketchbook to the staff

 

_ My, that was fast… _

 

Nanaka took her sharpie and wrote a number “1”. 

Ok, Kanan was a complex character so far - even if she thought that it was simple at the beginning-, indeed she had a lot of charms point to point out, but which one of all of them was more important? or characteristic from Kanan, what makes her relate with her…?

 

_ Well, I’have always thought that the only thing I have from her is her ponytail…  _

 

So Nanaka wrote “Pony Tail”. 

Then she wrote a number “2". 

 

What else? she likes hugs?…yes, she does, but that isn't something that the fans know by now, it’s something she is just building with the character, in fact, there’s no picture of text, beside her introduction speech, that reaffirms that, so no, for the fans this isn’t something regular of her. 

She likes diving… she has muscles to show off…

 

_ That’s something I don’t have from her…her nice body… _

 

Nanaka remembered the key visual of the magazine a few months ago, the day she went to Shuka’s house to practice, actually the day when all of her things with Shuka started: that day she saw that key visual in the magazine where Kanan was showing off her nice body. 

 

So Nanaka wrote “Nice body”

It looked a bit of plain, so she added a heart at the end. 

 

_ Because it's sexy…  _

 

She saw that there were other colors for the sharpies so she started coloring the heart. 

 

“How you doing?” asked Aina by her side

“Good… how are yours?” asked Nanaka back

“Eh… good?” answered Aina not convinced

“Oh what did you wrote?” asked Arisa looking at Nanaka’s sketchbook, “Nice!” 

“You think…?” said Nanaka now drawing a little head of Kanan on the sketchbook 

“Yeah… you know… I have an idea…” said Arisa softly, Nanaka looked at her, Aina was equally interested 

“About?” asked Aina 

“You two…and your ’NanaAinya’ thing…” said Arisa with a malicious smile 

Nanaka blinked a few times and unconsciously looked over Shuka; she was fooling with Rikako and Anchan, it seemed that Anchan was messing with her sketchbook. 

Nanaka frowned.

 

“I’m listening…”  
Nanaka said now with a strong voice, Aina and Arisa shared a wide smile. 

 

 

They left the changing room with their souls in their mouths. 

Their nervousness was killing them, so they kept talking nonsense or moving weirdly.

Nanaka could see how Shuka was mumbling around, so she got close to her. 

 

No matter what production asked them to do, they were still girlfriends.

 

“Shuka,” called Nanaka softly, Shuka smiled at her getting close to her

“Are you ok?” asked Nanaka

“I’m freaking nervous…” said Shuka with a nervous smile, “what if I mess with the dance?”

“You will be alright…” said Nanaka, Shuka shared a smile and searched for her hands

They entwined their fingers.

 

“Did Ainya learned how to frog-leap?” asked Shuka giggling

Nanaka rose one eyebrow, still to the last rehearsal, Aina didn’t do the frog leap properly 

 

“Well, she said she had been practicing with her mother… I guess… she will do it on stage…” said Nanaka 

“I hope that everything goes well...” said Shuka softly

“It will…”

“Osuwa…,” Shuka called, “ Thanks for painting my nails today…” she said shyly

“My pleasure… thanks for helping me out with the dances… and the leapfrog” said Nanaka with loving eyes

“My pleasure…” repeated Shuka 

“Let's do our best today!” said Nanaka and then she hugged her.

“O-osuwa…” called softly Shuka

Shuka answered the hug tightly

“Let’s do it, Nanaka,” said Shuka softly

 

Nanaka felt her heart stopped for a second, somehow the symptoms of fear never going away, on the contrary, getting worse.

They separated and shared some smiles. 

 

“Ok girls!” 

Called Anchan and made some signs with her hands to make a circle; all the members got close and did it. 

“This is it!, this is the moment, every single sweat and tears we shared was for this…this is our first step!, as Aqours, as a group, let’s make the most of it! we have struggled, we have been fighting… we are NOT µ’s, we can step out of their shadow! I believe in all of us, we can do it…” said Anchan with confidence but with some fear in her voice too.  

The girls nodded to each other. All of them know how hard they had been working for this very moment. 

Anchan extended her right arm to the center, everyone followed thru.

“I’m…I’m getting emotional…” said Anchan tearing a bit, the girls shared some smiles with her and some encouragement words; she nodded. 

“I think, we should shout ‘Sunshine’, like the opening call…” said Anchan now with a softened tone, everybody giggled 

“Makes sense…this is Love Live! Sunshine after all…” said Arisa, everybody nodded. 

“OK!” shouted with energy Anchan, “ Let’s give our best! let's make us proud! but overall, let’s have FUN!”

All shouted “YES!”

“AQOURS!” shouted Anchan with energy

“SUN—SHINE!” shouted everyone extending their arms to the sky. 

They clapped and dissolved the circle, entering backstage. 

 

Everything was dark but for the monitor for them to start the opening drama. 

They could hear the crowd, the cheering, how many people were actually there? maybe the theater was empty and all of that was just their imagination? what if she screws up the dances? the leapfrog? NO.

They had been practicing since last year, what possibly could go wrong?!   
They were really nervous it was easy to tell, if this was getting them like that, the thought of having their first Live was terrifying.

The symptoms of fear being over the top, kicking Nanaka internally, it was fear, excitement, and nervousness; her intentions to throw up, her hands were sweaty, she was sweating already… her thoughts messing with her thought of failure, of not getting all the parts she needs to dance right, the feeling of falling all throughout, that her poor stamina betrayed her, it was just... 

Fear. 

“Its ok..” she heard a whisper by her side, Nanaka blinked and looked at her right

“You will do it great… we can do this”   
Whispered Aina, and she softly grabbed her hand entwining their fingers, Nanaka couldn’t say a thing, she somehow got lost into Aina’s eyes. 

It was like those symptoms somehow disappeared.  

“Ok, Inami-san! one, two, three…GO!” said the Chief of staff.  
Nanaka tightened her grip on Aina’s hand.

Fear.  

What a strange feeling to feel, when you are facing the very first step of your life holding to something real; it was like a leap of faith into nothingness, but it didn’t matter, she right now felt ready, she felt supported, and no matter what happened next, she wasn’t alone. 

Aqours debuted that day.  
The rest, its history. 

 

\--0oo0--

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We hope this wasn't boring long.  
> We had a lot to develop here, not only for the characters personalities but also because of the project  
> have everyone seen the little glimpses of Anshuka?...or to relate to Feelings under a mask?  
> Arisa’s idea with the KanaMari you can find it out on the actual video of the event of January 11.  
> Well now that everything is sorted out, the project, Subunits, the love triangle and such...I think we can move along!
> 
> Thanks so much for the comments and Kudos!


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aqours members face the post emotions about their first event and their first Niconama.  
> They traveled to Numazu for the first time and later on, they go see µ's Final Love Live!  
> It's time for them to receive the torch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sarah Here!
> 
> First I'm so so sooooo sorry for the delayed update... This chapter had been particularly difficult since its a chapter full of emotions and experiences that it might need a little bit more of thoughts, Misha - the other Author- also helped a lot in this chapter since her strength is the "emotional department" and made this chapter very emotional.  
> Also, this chapter matched Aqours 4th Live, their own path in Tokyo Dome, so I wanted to wait and watch it, to get more into the feelings.  
> We hope we had archived that... if your eyes teared a bit, then we did a great job :)  
> Grab a cup of tea, and let's enjoy, its a long chapter...  
> Cheers!

Masquerade Ch 08

 

 

Strong noises and high lights flooded the place. 

The sounds of people clapping, cheering and moving things around seemed too loud for anyone to even concentrate on their own thoughts. Happy screaming of joy, even hugs were shared amongst the staffs.

The place wasn't big enough to contain so much joy, so much laughter, and so much noise…

But also, their bodies couldn’t contain so much tiredness…

 

Suwa Nanaka blinked a few times trying to gather her thoughts and herself; today was a day that she would burn into her memory, as one which gave her the biggest impression in her career.

Today, Aqours had debuted and also held their first " _Niconama_  show” (a live broadcast), and there were a lot of new announcements; it was overwhelming, it was intense, but also satisfying.

 

She took a deep breath, their _Niconama_ had ended a few seconds ago and she just couldn't stand from her seat; her feet were sore, her muscles ached, so did her cheeks from smiling so much. So many things had happened during the whole day, it was difficult to even know how to feel at this moment; time sure had gone by without them even noticing, and it had left them with a sensation of being truly and deeply blessed. 

 

The clapping stopped and somehow the sounds faded; Nanaka looked to her sides, no one was moving. It seemed that everybody was stuck in their respective chairs, still processing everything that had happened in a single day. 

 

They were in a white room, it was big enough for them to arrange 2 big tables and one smaller in a “V” form, cover the fronts with 5 promotional posters of the First Single, and the staff in front of them with 3 cameras, and all the equipment needed. It was a little bit crowded, but for sure they made it work. 

They were seated by “Year groups”. "First years" on one of the big tables to the left, “Second years” in the smaller one in the middle, and “Third years” on the right. The lineup was as usual; Aikyan, Aiai, King, Rikako, Anchan, Shuka, Nanaka, Arisa, and Aina.

 

“Anchan, are you alright?” asked Rikako with a concerned tone.

Everybody looked at the center table. Anchan was tearing up once again.

 

“You are gonna make me cry too~,” said Aina at her table, with clear watery eyes and a whine in her tone.

“I’m sorry, I’m just... I’m just... this is too much...” tried Anchan sobbing and cleaning her eyes.

“I wasn’t expecting any of this... It was indeed a surprise,” said Arisa in her diligent tone.

“I still have goosebumps...” said Shuka grabbing the bottled water in front of her.

“Shukashuu, that’s mine...” said Nanaka softly, giving Shuka the bottle next to it.

“Oh, sorry...” said Shuka with a bright smile while switching bottles.

“You didn’t confuse them while we were streaming? You two put your bottles just too close from each other”  
Said Rikako pointing out that everybody had their bottles to their right, except for Shuka who set it on her left, too close from Nanaka’s

“And why do you care? They share their saliva alread—“ tried King.

“Good job Anchan!”  
Said Aiai loudly, silencing King at her side and giving her some deadly glances; King brought her hands to her mouth, while Shuka smiled at her politely, Nanaka just glared at her, somehow she had forgotten to cover-up for Nanaka and Shuka, as they had agreed to do.

Everybody started talking at the same time and making noise when the Chief of staff clapped hard for them to shut up.

 

“Girls, girls...” he started, everybody fell silent for him. He stood in front of them with a big smile, “Congratulations on surviving today, I know it was hard and long, but all of you have done great! Congratulations!” 

And all the staff members started to clap once again; all the girls smiled wide and bowed politely.

The creepy assistant came to the front with some tissues for Anchan and Aina, it seemed that they just couldn’t control their emotions. 

And they couldn’t be blamed for it, today, had been a big day. 

 

“I know today has been long, and that you must be tired,” he continued,” But, I’m gonna take this opportunity while all of you are here and seated properly, to summarize what’s coming next…”

All the girls started to look at each other with concern; this day indeed had been LONG, and they had just finished their first _Niconama_ -an almost 2 hours long _Niconama_ -, and right now, Nanaka wanted to teleport to her bed and the world could burn for all she cared.

But no. 

It seemed that the Chief of Staff thought that this was a good opportunity to bum them out with more information.

 

The other assistant started to give them each a new folder with a bunch of new sheets of papers. Everybody received them with a shy “Thank you” and a tired smile. Shuka gave Nanaka a sad look and showed her the thickness of the new folder; it seemed that this year would be nothing compared to the one that had just passed.

 

“I know you have just finished your first event and first _Niconama_ , and also, your first term in the project; but I’m afraid that we are just starting…” continued the Chief of Staff; the girls started to open their respective folders.

 

_Holy ice creams!_

 

Nanaka was greeted by her new schedule and Sunshine activities.

“As you already know, µ’s activities will end on March 31st and April 1st with a huge performance in Tokyo Dome, and you are all invited”

“What?!” almost all the girls snapped with a loud gasp; Nanaka blinked a few times.

“God! We are still getting news!” said Aiai.

“No way… are you serious?! Is he…is he?” asked King towards Aiai; Aiai seemed in shock, her mouth like a fish’s.

“Give some more tissues to Anchan please!” asked Aikyan in a loud tone, Anchan was losing herself again, Rikako started to rub Anchan’s back, while the creepy assistant came once again with more tissues.

“Oh my, I’m getting goosebumps again!” said Shuka hugging herself.

“This could be terrible…” said Arisa softly by Nanaka’s side, Nanaka hummed.

 

_Yes, hello pressure?_

 

Nanaka closed her folder. She got the impression that there wasn’t any use in looking at the new schedule or whatever was inside right now, she was overwhelmed enough with all the activities from the day, plus the news and now this, going to watch µ’s end.

It was a little too much if they ask them.

 

“Ok!” said the Chief of Staff loudly, making them go quiet once more, “ It’s crucial for us, and the Sunshine project, for you to attend this Final Live; you need to learn, to watch, to absorb a true Live, and for you to know what we are expecting from all of you…”

“Thought so…” said Arisa slowly, Nanaka frowned.

 

Of course, the torch would be passed to them, and the fans would see that Final Live as the baseline; they would have to archive that.

 

Tension grew thick in the air; for the first time, Nanaka could see fear and quietness in “First years”, Rikako with a real concerned look, Anchan trying hard not to cry once again, Shuka’s smile fading and becoming really pale, Arisa’s face totally serious, that was even scarier, and Aina was containing her tears too; Nanaka was with her “Suwa face”.

 

“But, let’s not worry about that for a while, we are three months away from that and you will go as attendants, nothing else, but learn, that what’s important...” he made a pause to grab his own folder; the girls made soft and shy “Yes”.

“So, let’s focus on us. First;” he said looking at his folder, “learn that now, that you have already debuted, we are going to move a bit faster, once µ’s ends, you will have all the spotlights, so please keep the pace or you will be left behind...”.

 

Nanaka felt a pinch in her heart; she was sure that that sentence was just for her, she needed to do better, she needed to work even harder.

“Second; your new _Niconama_ shows, as you have already revealed in tonight’s show, it’s going to be a series of _Niconamas_ , they will start airing on January 22nd with, of course, “Second years”; the next one will be on February 5th with “First years”; and lastly, “Third years” on February 20th and so on, the schedule is in your folders”.

 

_Of course, “Second years” First..._

 

Nanaka couldn’t help but feel a bit annoyed about it, and it seemed that she wasn’t the only one.

“We will have to wait over a month!” said Arisa with annoyance in her voice, Aina made a sad noise, Nanaka blinked.

“We will be separated once again...”  
Whispered Shuka by her side, with a sad face, Nanaka gave her a shy smile. Shuka was concerned, well so was she, but they already knew that; they didn’t share the years' groups, nor the Subunits, so they were screwed.

“I miss you already...” murmured Nanaka with a coy smile, in a very  _ikemen_ voice; Shuka’s cheeks became wild red, and without taking her eyes off Nanaka’s, she grabbed Nanaka’s bottled water and drank from it; Nanaka bit her lips.

“Guys, seriously...?” whispered Arisa.

Nanaka and Shuka stiffened in their chairs, paying attention once again to what the Chief was saying. He was talking about the _Namas_ , and why it was important to hold one at least once a month.

“Ok, next!” he said in his harsh tone. “Second single; the release date is April 27th, and its name is going to be ‘ _Koi ni Naritai AQUARIUM_ ’, with ‘Watanabe You’ as the Center”

“Eh?!” snapped the girls loud.

“That’s the name of the song?” asked Aikyan raising her voice.

“We didn’t announce that…” said Anchan.

“It’s ok, it will be out on this month’s issue of the magazine anyways...” said the Chief of staff without a care, “So, we will start working on that for the next few months; the recording sessions will start next week.”

“Eh?!” snapped the girls once again, the Chief ignored them.

“The CD will contain four songs; three with lyrics and four tracks of CD drama, eight tracks in total; we have a lot of work to do.”

 

Everybody became silent.

 

“About this, the main song will have its PV! Just like your First single, the PV and the CD dramas tracks will be connected, and it has been decided that the setting for this PV will be in an aquarium in Numazu...”

“It makes sense...” said Arisa dryly.

“Eh? Why?” asked Anchan.

“The title of the song?” snapped Aina with almost a “Doh!” at the end of her sentence.

“Ah...of course...” said Anchan embarrassed.

“Well, production thought it was really important for all of you to get more insight about the characters and the setting for the project, so it was decided that we will have a field trip to Numazu on February!”

All the girls made some cheerful noises.

“About time!” said Aikyan.

“Yes! I’ve wanted to visit Numazu for a while, I’m curious about it” said Rikako.

“How far is it from here?” asked King.

“You weren’t paying any attention to the streaming...” said Arisa with her diligent tone; King pouted.

 

“The trip is scheduled for February 1st, any further detail is in your folders…” said the Chief trying to move on, “Also, the all nine of you are scheduled to go to the inauguration ceremony for Numazu’s Gamers store on February 27th”

“Eh?!” snapped the girls once again, the Chief ignored them for the third time.

“Moving on,” he continued reading from his folder; the girls tried to be quiet, “Aqours will be added to SIF, this means that you need to start recording for the game too…”

“Oh my! That’s true!” said Aikyan.

“What?!” squeaked Aiai.

“What? Of course, you silly, you thought that Aqours being added to the game was just that? We need to make the voices for that to happen” said King in a serious tone.

“Oh my…” said Shuka softly, grabbing her temples; Nanaka made a bitter smile. It seemed that they would be covered in work; from zero to everything.

 

Nanaka rubbed Shuka’s back gently.

“You will be ok, don’t worry about it…” said Nanaka softly, they shared some smiles.

 

“We will start those recordings next week too…” said the Chief moving his papers in the folder.

“Next Week?!” snapped “First years”.

“So, recording for the Second single, plus the game?!” asked Anchan a bit overwhelmed.

“Sound like a lot…. doesn’t it?…” said Rikako shyly by her side; “First years” and “Second years” shared some worried faces. 

“Girls, it’s not that much…” said Arisa calmly, "right?” she asked, looking to Aina and Nanaka; Aina opened her eyes wide and made a sweet smile, while Nanaka just rose her eyebrows.

“Well, no…it’s not,” said Aina with a smile.

“Besides we are nine, we will take turns… don’t worry…” said Nanaka in her monotone.

“Eh..?” said Anchan surprised; Shuka gave Nanaka a proud smile.

“Well, they are ‘Third years’—” started King.

“They are the experienced ones…” finished Aikyan.

 

Nanaka smiled proudly, they were right, Arisa was an actress with far more experience than any of the members, she was used to recording long hours; Aina was already an experienced  _Seiyuu,_  so she was used to recording, and so was Nanaka.

 

“We will be together, it will be fun too, right?” said Arisa, everybody said a soft “yes” to her.

“Good, because as you already know, your first Anime season was scheduled for this summer, and you need to start recording for that too…” said the Chief of staff with his harsh tone, it seemed that he was equally tired as them, and also wanted to go home, and it was understandable, they had the _Nama_ started at 21:00hrs. It had been almost 2 hours of show, and all this was now taking too long...

 

All the girls made sounds of excitement about the Anime; Anchan almost lost herself once again, she was really touched by this, maybe about the whole day...

 

“Ok, ok, girls! God! Why are you so loud...” said the Chief grabbing his temples, “I’m glad you are all happy about the Anime, but it’s also hard work, you need to record the songs too, not just the dialogue for the episodes...”

“Isn’t it exciting?!” Interrupted Anchan, her excitement overflowing; “First years” yelled a loud “Yeah!!” with Shuka close behind, while Aina laughed nervously like an old man. Arisa, Rikako, and Nanaka shared some apologetic smiles and just sighed.

 

The Chief of staff sighed too, this was pointless at this time, so he gave up.

“Ok. So summing up,” said the Chief, the girls became silent,” New _‘Niconama’_ show, Second Single, Aqours in SIF, event in Numazu Gamers, First season of the Anime, and µ’s final Love Live!”

 

It seemed like the Chief had taken their breath away; all of them looked at him in awe, it was a mixed feeling of anticipation, excitement, fear, anxiety, but also, joy. This was what they were waiting for, right now, today was their first step, they had conquered one big achievement, and now they wanted more...

 

“So we will put practice a side for a while; your teachers are quite busy with µ’s right now, with the Final Live and such; also, you are not going to perform yet...” Nanaka and Shuka shared some sad glances, that could only mean fewer hours with each other “...so there’s no point on holding practice sessions yet... You need to concentrate on recording, on singing lessons and learn more about the project...”

All the girls nodded and said a loud “Yes”.

 

“Good, you are dismissed! Great job everyone!”   
He clapped, followed by his staff, the girls bowed politely and said a soft “thank you”.

 

 

Slowly they started to get up; Nanaka just couldn’t feel her butt anymore, it had been too much time seated in almost the same position, she was collecting her stuff when Shuka grabbed Nanaka’s water once again. They shared glances...

 

Without saying a thing, Shuka took her own bottle and gave it to Nanaka, and without taking her eyes away from her, she drank again from the bottle, using the straw.

Nanaka understood, and she did the same with Shuka’s bottle; this act didn’t last long, both removed the straws from their mouths with shy smiles; those were kisses.

 

With a lot of noise, they left the tiny little white room and headed towards the changing room. Even if it was late, and the day seemed that it wasn’t going to end soon, the girls were still really hyped, it could be noticed by the happy and loud cheers echoing inside the Lantis’ halls. 

It seemed that the Sunshine crew was the only one left in the building. So they kept the happy pace towards the changing room.

 

“I’m still amazed that Suwawa didn’t faint...” 

Nanaka heard behind her; it was King’s voice, Nanaka just blinked. She wasn’t wrong, she was amazed too; the day just couldn’t be any longer, they had been working since morning, practicing for the event, the actual event, and then the live stream; if she was still functional, it was because God is great. 

 

“Don’t pay her any mind...” 

She suddenly heard while someone clung to her arm. Of course, that someone could only be Shuka.

 

“Actually I don’t...” said Nanaka in her monotone, moving her head to the side, softly touching Shuka’s; Shuka answered with a little jump of joy and then grabbed Nanaka’s hand, entwining their fingers. It was as if all the noise the girls were making faded...

 

“Are you very tired?” asked Shuka softly, Nanaka gave her a tired face.

“I don’t know how I’m still moving...” said Nanaka in her monotone, “Are you ok?”

“I’m good... tired too, indeed this had been a long day...” said Shuka in a more serious tone. 

“Yes... But...” Nanaka locked gazes with Shuka, both shared a sad look “About what happened after the event... are you ok?”

Shuka stopped her footsteps and looked at Nanaka with a sad face.

 

“How...? Osuwa...?”

“I’m your  _girlfriend_... and I practiced with you more times than the rest of the members...” said Nanaka with her serious tone; Shuka pouted.

“I... damn! I’m so helpless... I—“ 

“Hey, ~ C'mon! Ya’ lovebirds! Move out of the way!” said King loudly, passing besides them, along with Aiai and Aikyan, of course laughing and making noise.

“Everything ok Suwawa?” asked Arisa, walking by with Aina; Nanaka just nodded with a shy smile, Shuka gave them a wider one, while tightening her grip on Nanaka’s held hand.

So with all the members gone, -because Anchan and Rikako were ahead of them- Nanaka looked at Shuka once again.

 

“Sweetie, don’t say those things. If someone is helpless at dancing, that’s me...not you,” said Nanaka tightening her hand on Shuka’s once again.

“But... Osuwa, I fucked up in the dance...” said Shuka almost with a whine and looking at her feet in shame, “If there’s something that I’m proud of, are my dancing skills! And I messed up!” finished Shuka looking at Nanaka with watery eyes. 

“Hey Hey,” said Nanaka, breaking away from Shuka’s hand and softly touching her cheek, ”I bet no one noticed it...and it’s ok... now you can do better...”

“But, Osuwa...” whined Shuka, and a tear escaped from her eye, “If I can’t even dance correctly, it’s like I’ve lost the only thing I was good at”

Nanaka gave her a lovely look, and with her gentle finger dried that tear away.

“Don’t say nonsense...” said Nanaka sweetly, “You are good at a lot of things, and it’s ok to be frustrated. Also, Shuka, Sweetie, this was our first performance as Aqours, we were all really nervous, I, myself didn’t do all the movements, maybe someone else made a mistake too... but at the end of the day, the event was successful, we debuted flawlessly, and the fans were happy and had fun...”

Shuka sobbed and then she bit her lips, Nanaka was right. 

Nanaka gave her a coy smile.

 

“Did Shuka have fun too...?” asked Nanaka with her singsong tone; Shuka smiled shyly at her.

“Yes, Shuka did...” said Shuka giggling and giving her a wide smile.

Nanaka could feel her heart melting, maybe this was the reason why she still had energy and standing after this long day; Shuka’s smile could recharge her batteries no matter what.

 

“Good, that’s what matters...” said Nanaka, and grabbed Shuka’s hand once again, “Now that you know that you made a mistake, you can do better next time...”

“Osuwa...” said Shuka softly, then she smiled wide at her.

Shuka looked at both sides of the hall; nobody was near, so she took a step towards Nanaka and they locked their lips in a quick, but soft, and pure kiss. 

 

“My, I was dying to kiss you all the  _Niconama_...” said softly Shuka departing from Nanaka’s lips.

“That’s why you kept confusing our bottles...?” said Nanaka softly, Shuka giggled.

“You...you noticed?...”

“Of course, it was my bottle...” said Nanaka and continued walking, “Now, if you don’t mind, I’m dying to get out of this uniform and go home...” Shuka giggled and they continued their way to the changing room.

 

“ _Ne_...you know, I thought I was practicing a lot, but the fact that I made a mistake shows that I haven’t been practicing enough...” said Shuka while walking.

“Mm? But you practiced a lot...” said Nanaka nonchalantly.

“I need to practice more... besides, now that we aren’t having any dance practice, we will see each other less...” 

“Yes... that’s true...” said Nanaka reaching the changing room’s door.

“So, I thought that we could continue our private dance sessions...” said Shuka shyly.

“I would love too— Eh? What the heck?” said Nanaka looking inside the changing room, holding the door.

“Eh?... What? Guys?” asked Shuka from behind.

 

The changing room was awkwardly quiet, everybody was in front of their respective lockers, but weirdly no one was getting undress, or where actually changing. They were standing still; Anchan was standing with her back to the lockers and looking at her feet; Aina was softly sobbing with a tissue, Arisa rubbing her back with a silent Rikako; “First years” were quiet too, King was sitting on a bench with her sight lost in her shoes, while Aiai was with her head back, eyes shut tight and Aikyan was the first one to notice the happy couple arriving.

 

“Hey! About time!” said Aikyan loudly, then dropped something inside her bag, her voice interrupting everyone else thingie and locking gazes with the couple.

 

“What the hell is going on?” said Shuka walking in, Nanaka broke their entwined hands to walk towards Aina.

“What’s wrong Ainya?” asked Nanaka with concern; Aina, Arisa, and Rikako looked at her with sad faces, Aina just sobbed.

“Nothing really...” said Arisa with a shy smile.

“Eh?!” said surprised Nanaka, then she blinked a few times.

 

 _Everybody is quiet, crying and weird.....and nothing is happening?_  
_These people sure are weird..._

 

“Hey, Anchan?” called Shuka on the other side of the changing room, Nanaka turned around to see Shuka and Anchan, of course, she was curious about what the Leader might say about this.

Anchan looked at Shuka and gave her a shy smile, and then she brought her right index to her lips, telling Shuka to stay quiet. 

 

Nanaka blinked a few times; Shuka turned around to lock gazes with Nanaka, of course, they shared some concerned looks. Nanaka looked at Arisa, Aina, and Rikako again, but no one looked back at her, so she looked at Shuka again, both shrugged.

 

_That’s it, they finally lost some screws._

 

Nanaka walked towards her locker, that of course, happened to be next to Shuka’s. So without saying anything else she first opened it and left her new folder inside. She was about to start getting undress when she felt someone’s sobbing next to her. 

She blinked a few times.

 

_What—?_

 

Nanaka looked to her side, Shuka was standing looking at her locker, drying her tears with clumsy hands. Nanaka rose her eyebrows in surprise.

 

_What the hell is wrong here?!_

 

She looked back to everyone; all the members seemed in deep thought or crying, but with no apparent reason. She went closer to Shuka and softly touched her shoulder.

“Sweetie...” whispered Nanaka concerned, but Shuka gave her a shy smile.

“It’s ok... Suwawa... it’s... I’m... I’m just happy...” said Shuka drying some tears.

Nanaka frowned.

 

_Happy? Eh?!_

 

Then she turned around once again, she blinked a few times trying to move the gears of her mind. What the hell was going on?! Why everyone was acting so unlike them?

She separated from Shuka; her sight traveling from member to member, she scanned the room, the quietness, the soft sobbing, the ambient...

And she saw just, girls. 

And that was it. 

 

They had lost that today. Being just girls.

Nanaka rose her eyebrows in sadness; today was their debut, today their idol activities had started and they weren’t going to stop for the next five years. It overwhelmed them. 

 

That’s what was going on; after that day, the pressure, practice, the event, the _Nama_ , the announcements, what was going to happen from then on, it overwhelmed them. And right now, in the quietness of the changing room, where no one else could see them, they could just take the time to realize and take in the real weight of what the hell was going on... 

Nanaka could feel her feet sore, her legs shaking, her back aching, her arms heavier and her head spinning, all because of this day; this was the fruit of practice and achieving a great goal, their first event into this world, the results of one day in the idol word, but she couldn’t feel anything else but joy.

 

They had made it. They had survived to this day. Her, with these eight girls; they took this huge steps and it was great. Tiring, but incredibly satisfying. Even if this meant that they had to lose what meant to be normal girls, because now they weren’t, they were idols.

 

So yes, those weren’t tears of total sadness, there was also a joy to them... 

Nanaka closed her eyes, feeling it, now she could totally understand, these people hadn’t lost any screws, these people were feeling the joy, feeling the tiredness, feeling the sadness, feeling everything they weren’t allowed to feel on camera, feeling the moment, right now, in the quietness of their own, as a group.

 

 

“How is it?”

Nanaka heard, it was Anchan’s voice; Nanaka opened her eyes and turned to see Anchan with her “Suwa face”, Anchan had a coy smile.

“I’m overwhelmed by all this...” said Nanaka softly, “But, I feel happy...” 

Anchan nodded.

“Well, we all are, aren’t we?” said King standing up, it seemed that she was done looking to her shoes.

“We are, I’m excited, I want to do a lot of things!” said Aikyan, now starting to undress.

“We will, we have a LOT to do now...” said Arisa opening her locker.

“I wonder, why the hell the Chief wanted to give us the folders and to revise what was next, like right now, after the live stream,” asked Rikako getting undressed. 

“Yeah! Like if we weren’t tired!” said Aiai undoing her hair.

Nanaka turned around and started undressing like everybody else, it seemed that her moment of calm needed to wait; so she first started taking off her shirt.

“Maybe he wanted to let us know that this is just starting... so don’t take this lightly...” said Arisa.

“Besides, tomorrow is our day off... maybe he took this opportunity and that’s it...” said Anchan.

 

_Yes, torment us with everything that comes, with everything we must do..._

 

Nanaka took her skirt off, a little bit annoyed, maybe the Chief could have waited and let them be at ease with their own overwhelming feelings about everything they just had experienced, but not, that wasn’t enough...

 

“He should have waited till’ our next day of work; today I just had enough... I can’t feel my soul” said King a bit annoyed.

“Well, we need to take everything he throws at us...” said Rikako.

“I think I can’t take any more emotions...” said Aina softly on the other side of the room.

“My, Ainya you are totally a crybaby!” said Aiai in a mocking tone; Nanaka turned around a little bit annoyed about that to lock gazes with Aiai, but Aiai was too into her changing.

“Hey! Don’t say that! I’m—“ was saying, Aina.

“I love that underwear...” said Shuka by her side; Nanaka blinked furiously, paying attention to Shuka and not to Aina’s words.

“Eh?...” said Nanaka with a goofy smile.

“Your underwear...” giggled Shuka now red of embarrassment; Nanaka looked at herself, once again she was wearing cute Sanrio undies. She snapped and covered herself with her blouse.

Shuka laughed, Nanaka’s cheek became wild red, and then pouted.

 

“Don’t worry Suwawa, I love those too...” said Shuka taking her jeans out of the locker “You can’t only wear lace undies...”

“Why...why not?” said Nanaka putting on her blouse.

“Because Sanrio and cute characters are part of you...” said Shuka now putting on her pants, “and I love that side of you...” 

Nanaka gave her a shy look but didn’t say anything; if Shuka was ok with someone like her, childish, demure and quiet... then so be it.

“I...” started Shuka shyly, “I saw you took pictures with Aina...”

Nanaka froze, maybe she stopped breathing too; they locked gazes.

“You took pictures with everyone too...” said Nanaka in a dry tone.

“Are...are you jealous?” asked Shuka shyly.

 

Nanaka frowned.

“No.,” she said dryly and took her pantyhose out of the locker.

“You sure?...” tried Shuka again.

 

_Is she provoking me?... No, not today...I can’t take this today..._

 

Nanaka sighed.

“I’m not Shuka, are you? Remember, I need to do my task with Aina, of course, I need to take pictures with her...” said Nanaka moving the pantyhose around.

Shuka remained silent for a full minute to take her sweater out of the locker. 

“Of course I am...” said Shuka softly and in a low tone.

Nanaka looked at her with her “Suwa face”, her pantyhose already in place, then she took out her one-piece dress out of the locker.

 

_Of course, she is..._

 

Nanaka put on her dress, trying to ignore that, she didn’t have the energy to take Shuka’s jealousy or start something about it.

 

Shuka put her leather jacket on, and then her beret; she was ready.

“Osuwa...” she called.

Nanaka finished with her dress and then looked at her, raising her eyebrows.

“What can I do?” asked Shuka softly and shyly, she was looking at her feet.

“About?” 

“My jealousy... I know, God, I really know that it’s your job and you need to do it, I know that, but gee, it’s giving me so much trouble...” said Shuka softly for no one but Nanaka to hear, it seemed that the mood inside the changing room was restored because now it was noisy again.

 

“You want to have this conversation, here?....” asked Nanaka grabbing her Kanan outfit.

“Well, I... I don’t know...I’m hurt... I feel hurt...” said Shuka, imitating Nanaka and taking You’s clothes too.

“I know it hurts you, and I’m hoping you get that, what I do, isn’t because I want to hurt you...” said Nanaka without looking at Shuka, she was just to concentrated arranging Kanan clothes in a hanger.

“I know...” said Shuka.

“Hum” 

Nanaka took a few steps to the bench in the middle of the room to leave the hanger and then went back to her locker.

 

“Sweetie can you zip up my dress?” asked Nanaka with a lovely tone, Shuka smiled wide and nodded.

She left her hanger next to Nanaka’s and came back.

“Turn around...” said Shuka with a lovely tone, Nanaka did what she was told.

 

There should be a way for Shuka to feel more secure about this relationship, and to overcome her jealousy, it wasn’t sane to make her jealous, and for Shuka to “counterattack” by trying to make Nanaka jealous, just for the sake of provoking her to be mad, and for her to later punish Shuka’s childish behavior...

She needed to compensate for this  _NanaAina_  act.

 

“You know, I was thinking...” started Nanaka, Shuka stopped zipping just in the middle of Nanaka’s back, “What about if I made a ‘ship’ name for ourselves...” 

“Eh?” said Shuka at her back.

“Just like I created the _NanaAina_ , I can upload pictures with you too...” said Nanaka softly.

“What? Seriously?” asked Shuka.

“Shuka, I can take pictures with everyone... not just Aina...” said Nanaka with a tired tone.

“Yes...that’s actually right...” said Shuka softly, like just realizing that.

“I can upload pictures with you... we can be close too, the Chief didn’t say anything about it; in fact, he said we should, not just Aina and I—“ Nanaka was interrupted by a tight hug from behind.

“I love you...” murmured Shuka on her back; Nanaka closed her eyes softly and smiled sweetly, she gently touched Shuka’s hands.

“I love you too...” said Nanaka softly; Shuka giggled, “So, can this ease your pain?” 

“Yes...” said Shuka softly, separating herself from Nanaka’s back and finishing zipping the dress.

 

Nanaka turned around to see Shuka’s happy smile, but was surprised by a hug, Shuka encircled her arms around Nanaka’s neck; Nanaka hugged her by the waist, they lovingly put their foreheads together.

No one said a thing, they just kept losing themselves into their eyes, completely ignoring that they were in the changing room, with all the members around; it was like everything else faded, pressure, work, tiredness and of course, noises. 

 

So, putting everything behind them, they kissed.

 

“Woa! Hold on you two!”

They hear a loud and squeaky voice, that was Aiai.

 

Nanaka opened her eyes almost abruptly and tried to separate from Shuka, but Shuka just clung to her neck; both looked to the rest of the members.

 

“You Guys, that’s not cool...” said King with her hanger in her hands.

“Why? Why do you care?” asked Shuka with a serious tone, “This is not new for you”

“There are poor people here!” whined Aikyan.

“That doesn’t mean that you can do those stuff in front of us!” squeaked Aiai.

“Eh? What thing?” asked Rikako, then she looked at Arisa.

“I didn’t catch it...” said Arisa grabbing her bag, but giving them a serious face; Nanaka and Shuka separated from each other.

“They were making out,” said Aina in a gloomy tone, leaving the changing room, not giving everyone a second sight. 

Nanaka frowned and made a bitter smile; she mended Shuka’s heart but broke Aina’s even more...

 

_I can’t find the balance between these two... I’m sorry Aina..._

 

“It’s ok, I’m happy that you two feel so comfortable around us...” said Anchan with a happy tone.

“Do you?” asked King astonished.

“Yeah, what’s the problem?” asked Anchan in a carefree tone, grabbing her bag and hanger, Nanaka took this opportunity to put her folder inside her bag then grabbed her coat and scarf from the locker.

 

“Anchan, I think they shouldn’t do that in public...” said Arisa concerned, taking her hanger.

“But this isn’t public... this is us...” retorted Anchan.

“Public!” squeaked Aikyan.

“Guys, I thought you were ok with this,” said Shuka a bit annoyed.

“And we are!” said Anchan quickly looking at Shuka and Nanaka.

“Yes we are, but you need to behave!” said Arisa.

“I think there’s no safer place than the changing room, with us…” said Anchan again.

“Next thing you will be  _doing it_  in the showers!” said Aiai, everybody made some surprises sounds and gasps.

“Do... Don’t be ridiculous!” snapped Shuka bright red as a tomato.

“Maybe they already _did_ it!” said King.

“Uhhhgggg King! We use those showers!” said Aikyan with disgust.

 

_Just what the hell are they imagining... we have decency..._

 

Nanaka blinked a few times, and put on her scarf, 

 

_We wait till there’s no one here..._

 

And she put on her coat at her own pace...

 

Nanaka walked to the bench to pick up her hanger, ignoring everyone’s comments on what they should or not do in front of them, once she had it, she looked at everybody.

“Can we drop this topic? It’s late, I’m tired, we all are... I wanna go home... thank you” said Nanaka in her monotone; turned around and started walking towards the door.

“Ye...Yeah!” said Shuka behind her, and followed out of the room.

 

Of course, all the members followed through, they walked trying to keep the topic till’ production’s office to leave their respective hangers with the character’s uniform. Aina’s hanger was already there, it seemed that she was mad enough for her to go without saying goodbye to any of the members.

Then they walked towards the exit of the Lantis building.

 

Nanaka was walking at her pace when she felt her right hand being grabbed. 

“I’m sorry Osuwa...” said Shuka softly,

“Why are you apologizing now?” said Nanaka in a tired tone but tightening her grip on Shuka’s hand,

“The kiss... I don’t know, I just couldn’t defend us...” said Shuka softly,

“Sweetie, we don’t need to defend ourselves to the members...” said Nanaka in her nonchalant tone, then they locked gazes, “And definitely you mustn’t apologize for kissing me...” Nanaka smiled at her.

Shuka smiled wide and went closer to Nanaka, making some cute little jumps. Nanaka smiled sweetly at her; yes, Shuka was still a kid. 

 

Nanaka took out her phone with her left hand.

“I’ll call you a taxi...” said Nanaka in her  _ikemen_  voice. 

“Eh? Why? Tomorrow is our day off...I could go to your—“ tried Shuka.

“No Sweetie, we need to sleep in our own beds tonight...” said Nanaka softly, Shuka stopped her jumps and her smile faded.

“Are... are you... for real?” asked Shuka in a sad tone, this was the first time Nanaka had denied Shuka to stay with her.

“Shuka, I’m tired, you are tired, I need to...sleep, to process all of this...” said Nanaka stopping her steps at the main entrance of the building. Surprisingly, Aina was there, outside, looking towards the street.

All the members also stopped besides them.

“Is that Aina-san?” asked Rikako.

“I guess it is, I’ll call her,” said Anchan and rushed out of the building.

 

Nanaka took this opportunity to use her taxi app to send Shuka home. 

“It’s not because you are mad at me or something, right?” asked Shuka shyly; Nanaka looked up at her and rose her eyebrows.

“No Shuka, I’m not mad...”

“Then...?” asked Shuka with almost a whine.

“I told you... you will rest better without me in the bed... besides, your mother must be worried...” said Nanaka in a “matter of fact” tone; Shuka pouted.

“We can see each other in the afternoon... don’t make such a face Shukashuu... is just because I want to sleep and rest...” 

“Ok... I understand” said Shuka giving her a smile, “But I miss you already...” said Shuka with a coy smile.

 

Nanaka blinked a few times and smiled sweetly at Shuka; she removed her scarf from her neck, gently put it around Shuka’s, and gave two turns around it. Both shared a shy smile.

Shuka took Nanaka’s scarf and hid her face in it, slowly closing her eyes and smelling it. 

“Now I can bear to miss you...” said Shuka shyly, Nanaka rolled her eyes. 

 

Anchan opened the door once again to get inside with Aina behind; a chill wind came inside and made everyone shiver in their spots. Outside was really cold, and it was softly snowing.

 

“Well, seeing that we will be stuck here a few more minutes till’ our taxis arrive, I want to thank everyone for your hard work...” said Anchan, and bowed.

“Eh? Anchan? What?” said Aikyan, and somehow everybody did a circle.

“Is she doing her Leader thing?...” asked Aiai in her mocking tone.

“Leader or not...” said Anchan with a smile, “I wanted to... we worked hard today, and I expect to keep working hard, with all of you...in this project, making us proud...making Aqours proud, today...”she stopped, it seemed that she was getting emotional again, “Today... we achieved something huge, we did it guys, we...the nine of us...we can shine too...”

 

Everybody gave Anchan a big smile; yes, it was late, Yes, they were tired, but sure they were happy.

 

“What happened in the changing room; I know we all have a lot of feelings inside, “continued Anchan, “and it’s important to take our time to think, to process, to enjoy what we are experiencing... time passes by just too fast...and we need to enjoy every moment...every experience...”

 

Everybody nodded.

“We will work hard; the Second single...” Anchan looked at Shuka, both shared a nod, “the live broadcasts,” everybody nodded, “the events in Numazu,” everybody made a soft “Yes”, “ the first season of the Anime...”

Everybody shared some shy smiles.

 

“And of course, µ’s Final Love Live!” finished Anchan and no one said a word, they shared concerned looks; actually this wasn’t a task, they couldn’t do anything about it, just go and watch the show, but it seemed like the most terrifying task of all... watch your idols go.

 

“This, personally, is the most exciting task of all...” spoke Anchan once again, “For me, µ’s is like, I don’t know, everything; I went to their last Live...as a fan, and now...I’m going to watch them end...as their successor... it’s... I...” she started tearing up again.

“No, please Anchan...” said Aikyan.

“C’mon, Leader...” said Aiai, and it seemed that the circle got smaller, they even hugged each other; Anchan couldn’t be helped but to start crying again, Aina followed her. 

 

“I’m really sorry, but I just can’t!” said Anchan with sadness, but with a lot of emotion too, “I’m the successor of one of my favorite idols! I’m working on this project with incredible people!... I was about to quit being a _Seiyuu!_ But no! I have this chance to sing, to dance, to perform in a franchise that blows my mind! We have the chance to make CDs, to voice the first season of an Anime!, I have this opportunity in a lifetime to be better, to be stronger, and I just can’t do it without any of you... so THANK YOU SO MUCH!” she shouted and bowed.

 

“Thank you so much!” said all the girls after Anchan, and bowed too.

 

They all stood looking at each other with their eyes full of tears, maybe everyone was feeling something similar to Anchan, but she had the guts to shout it out. That’s why she was the leader.

 

The cell phones started to ring, meaning that some of the taxis arrived; of course, everybody was taking one, it was too late to take the train.

 

“I guess that’s our call...” said Aiai checking her phone.

“Mine isn’t here yet...” said Arisa checking her phone, “Aida-san, why don’t you just go with Anchan?” 

“Eh? What about you?” said Rikako with a shocked face.

“Anchan, can you give Aida-san a ride?” asked Arisa ignoring Rikako completely.

“Yeah, Sure! C’mon ‘Riko-chan’!” said Anchan using her Chika voice; Rikako gave Arisa a sad look and followed Anchan through the door.

 

“Yours is here too...” said Nanaka to Shuka in her monotone, but Shuka just pouted, “What? What’s wrong?” 

“Come with me...” said Shuka softly.

Nanaka blinked a few times, and softly sighed.

“I’ll walk you out, Nothing else...” said Nanaka grabbing Shuka’s hand; Shuka did a little jump of happiness and with a wide smile they walked outside. 

 

It was freaking freezing.

 

“I want my hot water bottle...” murmured Nanaka, and soon they got close to the taxi. 

“You know I can be yours tonight...” said Shuka slyly.

“Shuka...please, don’t make it harder than it is...” said Nanaka opening the door

“I know...” said Shuka softly, “What about you Nanaka?” asked Shuka in a serious tone.

“I’ll ask for one later... Don’t worry...” 

“Send me a message when you are home, ok?” said Shuka still serious.

“Of course Sweetie...” said Nanaka softly, “You too...”

“I miss you already...” said Shuka getting close and stole a kiss from Nanaka’s lips.

It was a small peck on the lips, and then she got inside the car; Nanaka closed the door and the taxi started with no delay.

 

Nanaka sighed softly. She felt dead tired. 

She once again walked back to the building at her own pace and entered because it was too cold outside. To her surprise, Arisa and Aina were still there. 

 

“Oh, it seems that ‘Third years’ were left behind...” said Arisa looking at Nanaka going in.

“Eh? Really?” asked Nanaka looking around.

“Why didn’t you go with your  _girlfriend_?” asked Aina with bitterness.

Nanaka and Arisa looked at her with a sad expression.

 

“Not you too...” said Nanaka grabbing her temples.

“Aina-san, how is that your taxi isn’t here yet? You were the first one here” asked Arisa trying to change the topic.

“I live too far Arisha, no one wants to pick me up,” said Aina with a mix of sadness and seriousness.

Nanaka rose her eyebrows in sadness; yes it was really late and she lived too far for any taxi to want to take her there. Nanaka locked gazes with Arisa. 

 

“But you called one right?” asked Nanaka towards Aina.

“Nope, no one wants to do that ride...” said Aina, softly closing her phone, “Darn! I’m gonna be broke!” she said now rising her tone, “Did you see our schedules?! Leaving from here almost every day at late hours and such, there’s no way I can pay for so many taxis! Or even to get one!...”

“How about renting something closer?” asked Arisa.

“I can’t afford it...” said Aina in her gloomy tone.

“Arisa-san, you called your taxi already right?” asked Nanaka; Arisa nodded.

“Here, it says it’s less than 5 minutes from here...” said Arisa checking her phone.

 

Nanaka hummed; so she would be left alone with Aina, and eventually, Aina would be left alone for who knows how long. That wasn’t fair.

Nanaka pulled out her phone to see the taxi app; it seemed that Shuka was still on her way home. 

Nanaka looked at Aina, she must be feeling tired, frustrated and lonely... it was painful.

 

So, Nanaka closed her phone and took a deep breath; there wasn’t anything wrong in helping a friend in trouble.

 

 _I’m sorry Shuka, but I can’t leave her here..._  

 

“Aina...” called Nanaka softly, “Why don’t you stay with me tonight?”

“Eh?!” said Arisa and Aina at the same time, opening their mouths and eyes like fried eggs, astonished.

“Have you lost your mind?!” said Aina in her loud tone.

“Eh?” said Nanaka confused.

“I agree; are you sane?” said Arisa with a frown.

“Why? What? It’s not a big deal—“ tried Nanaka. 

“What about Shukashuu?!” said Aina loudly.

“What about her? Aina, I’m asking you to come to sleep, nothing else...” said Nanaka in a deadpan tone.

“Yes, but... what is she gonna say if she finds out that I’m at your place and not her! There’s a reason why she didn’t stay at your place tonight... right?” said Aina almost stomping her words.

“I sent her home because I wanted to sleep, and rest... with her, I just can’t do that...” said Nanaka.

“And you think that you could do that with me?—-“ Aina was saying.

“You better!” said Arisa with her diligent tone; Nanaka and Aina locked gazes with her, “Aina-san, I’m just as shocked as you with this, but I get it, you live far away, no taxi will drive you there, it’s also really late, and Suwawa is giving you a choice... is not perfect, but it’s a place to stay for the night...”

“What about your place? I can crash there, I was there once...” tried Aina with a desperate tone, “I rather prefer to be with you than with Suwawa” 

“Thanks...” said Nanaka with bitterness.

“Suwawa is not like that; you know I would die to spend the night with you, but I don’t want to cause you any trouble; if Shuka finds out, you are going to suffer...” said Aina with her eyes watering.

“She doesn’t need to find out...” said Arisa; Nanaka opened her eyes wide.

“What?” said Aina and Nanaka at the same time.

“You know, we were lucky that ‘First years’ left together, and Aida-san with Anchan, I’m the only witness, and I can keep this secret…this can even make our ’Third years’ relationship better... ” said Arisa, then she looked at Aina, “I’m counting that you will behave and not going to try anything funny”

“Anything funny?” repeated Aina softly, “What the hell do you mean?! “ then she recovered her high pitch, “Arisha! I’m the first one who was against this! Let me stay with you!”

“You can’t! My brother and parents are at home, they came to see the event today! So there’s no room left.” said Arisa now a bit annoyed, then she took her phone out of her pocket.

“It’s not that terrible...” said Nanaka with her nonchalant tone, “Besides I’m the one who offered it”

“Well, it seems that my ride is here...” said Arisa, then she looked at Nanaka and Aina, “It’s not, actually it’s a good call; I don’t know what you two are going to do, but Aina-san, decide soon, Suwawa is not going to wait for you forever...” then she looked at Nanaka, “About what happened earlier in the changing room, I thought we agreed that you would behave with Saito-san in front of the members...”

“That was before we told everyone—“ tried Nanaka to retort.

“I don’t care! If it was before or after, Suwawa, decency... you can’t be acting like that, so reckless... Remember that there are feelings involved...” finished Arisa, and then she started walking towards the door.

“Send me a message when you both arrive somewhere safe!” said Arisa, then left the building. 

 

_I can’t believe I have to share my Subunit with this woman too… God save my soul…_

 

Nanaka mentally facepalmed, she would have to start trusting Arisa more often and to bear her. 

 

The place became silent. 

“So, have you decided yet?” asked Nanaka while taking out her phone again.

 

_Feelings involved? Who’s? Mine? Shuka’s?... Aina’s?_

 

Nanaka checked that Shuka was already home, so now she could use the app to call a taxi for her.

 

“I don’t know... are...are you sure you want to do this?” asked Aina softly.

“Of course, that’s why I offered in the first place...” said Nanaka without taking her eyes from the screen, while moving her fingers to ask for the taxi.

“But Shukashuu?” asked Aina shyly.

“Aina, I’m confident that nothing is going to happen... I’m not good at lying to Shuka, but technically, it’s not lying if you don’t give all the information out...” she said still typing, “and there’s nothing wrong if two friends share a roof for the night, I’m trying to be helpful here...” said Nanaka finishing with her phone.

“Well... if you are ok, I guess…” said Aina shyly.

“Then it’s settled, you are going home with me…” said Nanaka locking gazes with Aina, both shared a sweet smile.

“Thanks…” said Aina in a cute tone and making a sweet face, it melted Nanaka’s heart.

 

_Oh, my… was this a good call?… can I survive this woman…? Shuka just can’t know about this, she would be so freaking mad… but… I’m helping a friend, there’s nothing wrong in this… right?—_

 

A message interrupted Nanaka’s train of thought. It was Shuka’s message that she was home safe and missing her. Nanaka frowned with a bitter smile, her heart felt heavy; this was exactly what she didn’t need to end the day, some moral pressure…

 

_Feelings involved… Arisa was talking about Aina… Doing things with the members around is not because she is against them, it's because I’m hurting Aina…_

 

Suddenly, she felt her left hand being grabbed; something went all over her body, a sensation of excitement, but also something comforting, it was a similar feeling to when she was about to go on stage and Aina had calmed every inch of Nanaka.

They looked at each other with sad faces.

 

“It’s going to be ok…” said Aina softly, “we aren’t doing anything wrong…”

Nanaka nodded getting lost into Aina’s eyes.

 

They had to wait inside the building for a few more minutes for the taxi to arrive. 

Indeed that day had been LONG and full of emotions.

The Sunshine project had finally started in all its glory. Right then, there was no turning back, they had debuted, they held their first _Niconama_ , there was a busy and hectic future waiting for them to fulfill all their dreams and expectations.

 

Of course, they were afraid, tired and also eager to see what was coming up next, but at least they weren’t alone.

 

**Nanaka held Aina’s hand tightly, waiting for that taxi to come; she just couldn’t but feel nervous, her heart pounding fast and unsteady.**

**Maybe because of the situation, maybe because she was eager about the project, or maybe…just maybe… because she felt happy, feeling that she had achieved something big.**

 

 .

 

.  

 

The beginning of the project was indeed hectic. 

The event of January 11th left a deep impression for each one of the members; that day, Nanaka arrived home so deadly tired that she just uploaded a single selfie with her " _Kimi no Kokoro wa Kagayaiteru kai?_ " outfit, and then she just forgot about the project’s existence until two days later, when she uploaded to her Twitter 3 significant pictures; the one that Arisa took with Aiai and Aina, one with Aina and wrote “ _NanaAina_ ”, and the most important, the selfie with Shuka, where she wrote “ _NanaShuka_ ” with You’s phrase “ _Yousoro_ ” on it, adding a dolphin and an anchor as emojis. (those were Kanan’s and You’s symbol images). Of course, this had a positive reaction on Shuka. 

On the other hand, Shuka uploaded pictures with Rikako, one with Anchan, another with Aiai, and the last one with her beloved “Subunit A”. Nanaka couldn’t help but feel a bit sad about it. It seemed that for Shuka, “Second years” and her Subunit where more important…

 

Nanaka tried to not give it that much attention, in the end, the less attention the “ _NanaShuka_ ” had, the better…

 

January was a busy month; the recordings started, the  _Niconamas_  were held too, or at least the one of “Second years”.

Nanaka watched it with a grin on her face; watching the “Second year” trio was a lot of fun, it seemed that Rikako had a hard time trying to maintain Anchan and Shuka on a leash, but in the end, she became the mocking theme of the  _Nama_ , either because of her lacking drawing skills, by having a little “accident” while doing the P.E segment. It had been hilarious. 

Of course, watching Shuka was soothing too, but she had to recognize that Shuka was adorable while making a fool of herself too. At the end of the live broadcast, Nanaka was thankful that her turn was one month away, that meant that she had time to prepare herself to appear in front of a camera and start making a fool of herself. 

 

In the love department, Nanaka and Shuka were actually good; the fact that they kept the practices in Shuka’s house helped a lot.   

They even shared a few short dates; they celebrated their month anniversary in a special restaurant where Shuka could eat all the meat she wanted, recalling that Shuka loved steak and hated raw food. 

It was anecdotal to know that Anchan invited Shuka to eat sushi once, even if she didn’t like it, so Shuka ended up asking for  _Nato_  rolls and fries from another menu.

It made Nanaka happy to know that Shuka could find a good friend in Anchan; sure, Shuka shared a lot of different stories with Rikako and Anchan. Being in the same year group was making them really close, not that Nanaka could share her stories about Arisa and Aina with Shuka; firstly, because “Third years” weren’t that close yet; and second, because Aina was there, and she just couldn’t be in the conversation.

 

Of course, Shuka never knew that Aina had spent that night of January 11th at Nanaka’s place. Maybe that was the very first secret the “Third years” shared... 

And as far as Nanaka cared, it should remain a secret. 

 

.  

 

.

——-**0. February 2016. 0**——

 

January passed by in a blink of an eye because of all that was to be done. 

The recording for the Second Single and SIF actually progressed pretty smoothly. They had some vocal classes, which compensated for dance classes. But it wasn’t only classes and recording...

 

February 1st  was also a day to remember. 

They traveled for the first time to Numazu. 

Numazu is a city located in eastern Shizuoka Prefecture, it’s located 130 kilometers (81 miles) west of Tokyo, and it’s a leisure destination known for its numerous hot springs. Mount Fuji, Japan's tallest mountain, may also be seen from Numazu on clear days. 

 

They didn’t have one of those days. 

That day was raining heavily and it was really cold; indeed winter was there.

 

All the cast traveled to Numazu to learn more about the Anime they would start recording. The story was going to be set in a little town near Numazu; Uchiura and the little island in front of it; Awashima.

Also, their second PV would be in one of the 3 Aquariums Numazu had to offer, so they needed to check them out as well. 

 

Of course, before the project wasn’t even thought, the producers and director visited Numazu and Uchiura to get inspired. They created the base story and the characters based on what they saw at that moment. Something could be appreciated in the first PV. 

But an Anime was mayor words.

 

So, the cast traveled by bus to Numazu, it wasn’t a long ride, just about 1 hour 50 minutes. 

They started early in the morning, it was just like when they had left for their training camp a few months ago.

Of course, everybody was really hyped. 

 

Also, sitting arrangements on the bus were almost obvious. It was really similar to the ride to training camp.

On the back, Aina with Aikyan and Anchan; in front of them, King with Aiai, next Nanaka with Shuka, and at the front row, Arisa with Rikako. 

 

Nanaka was seated next to the window once again, mostly because she suffered from motion sickness, so she made sure to take her medication before riding the bus, as a consequence, she became really sleepy, not that it was a bother for Shuka, on the contrary, because of it, both could cuddle or be more lovingly with each other. 

Ignoring almost all the noise on the bus, and hiding in their seats, they played with their entwined fingers, Shuka would lay her head on Nanaka’s shoulder, and Nanaka could give her lovely and cute kisses on her forehead.

They even shared a few quick pecks on their lips when they felt safe to do so.

Both just couldn’t feel more in love with each other, and it seemed that Shuka was extremely fond of Nanaka’s touch and presence. This was because they couldn’t have full dates with each other.

 

But of course, their peace was interrupted by the Chief of staff, which meant that they had to seat straight in their seats and set aside the couple vibe.

 

“Girls, girls! May I have your attention please?…” said the Chief popping up from his seat. “First years” stopped chitchatting, Aina silenced her “old man” laughter, and Nanaka and Shuka broke their entwined fingers.

 

“I think we need to summarize today’s activities…” he said taking out a piece of paper while trying to keep his balance on the bus.

“As we have already told you, the purpose of this trip is for you to experience the environment the girls grew up in first hand since the anime has started production you need to see, feel and taste where this is taking part in…”

The girls nodded. 

 

“So, first we are touring a bit in Numazu city to see the station and surroundings; then we will go to Uchiura, you will visit the school which _Uranohoshi_ had been modeled off; we will see the beaches of Uchiura, and we will be crossing to Awashima too… Then we will visit Izu-Mito Sea Paradise Aquarium, and we will do a ’Subunit’ activity…” 

“Eh?!” gasped everyone in the bus.

“What?” asked the Chief.

“Subunits?…” asked Arisa concerned.

“But, we… we don’t have names for our units yet…” said Rikako.

 

The Chief blinked a few times with a straight face.

“So?…” he asked.

“Well… I thought that ‘Subunits' activities were not going to start until the fans named them… Right?…” asked Rikako shyly.

 

Nanaka and Shuka entwined their fingers again. Somehow, the Subunit matter was painful for them. Month after month hoping for them to be together, to later they learn that they must be apart.

And to tell the truth, Nanaka was hoping the same as Rikako, for their unit's activities to start after they could be named. This meant that their time with Shuka would be reduced starting today.

 

“Eh? why would you think that?… They had ’names’ already, its ’Subunit A’, Subunit B’ and ‘Subunit C’, you already know the line up for each, so I can’t see any problems for you to interact between units.” he said with his harsh tone.

The mood in the bus became weird, between excitement and unease.

 

The Chief took out another paper. 

“Well, since we are talking about Subunits, here,” he said giving Arisa the paper, “These are the names for each Unit for the fans to vote on, it was out in last month’s issue of the magazine… It came out yesterday”

“And what good is it going to be to us?” said Aikyan a bit annoyed.

“Well, nothing, just for fun, for you to know…” the Chief shrugged,

“What does it say  _One-chan!_ ” asked Aiai in Ruby’s voice.

“Later…” said the Chief, stopping Arisa.

 

“Subunits are not that important right now… Try to enjoy the day, let’s make a lot of memories, take pictures, remember your tasks with social media; the idea is for the franchise to be popular in the area, Uchiura is a small town, maybe it has nothing to offer, but with this project we can inject more tourism to the town…”said the Chief.

 

 _So, in other words, this is for commercial purposes too…_ _  
These people sell and sell…_

 

“But not only that, remember the plot of the story, we are saving Love Live!,’Chika-chan’ and company, they want to save the school by being School Idols; right now you are trying to save a small and forgotten town… It’s like the same” he said with a smile; Nanaka frowned.

 

_No, it’s not… They want to sell, period._

_And they can’t sell in Tokyo… Because_ _μ_ _’s was in Tokyo, and I bet they don’t want to repeat the location, it has to be somewhere new, so they found a small town to put the circus in and start the show…._

_We are their clowns…_

 

“Hey…what’s wrong?” whispered Shuka at her side, “Are you dizzy?”

Nanaka blinked a few times snapping out of her thoughts, it seemed that she had tightened her grip on Shuka’s hand.

 

“I’m ok, sorry…” and gave Shuka a sweet smile.

“Really?…” asked Shuka concerned.

“Don’t worry…” said Nanaka looking through the window. It seemed she had had enough of the Chief speaking; he was giving them some instructions, but she didn’t bother to pay any attention to him. 

The rain seemed to be easing for while.

 

“ _Ne_ … Osuwa” called Shuka softly.

Nanaka snapped out of her daydream. She noticed that the Chief was already in his seat and the lively chitchat from “First years”, and Aina’s old man laughter had come back. She missed all the instructions.

 

“What?...” asked Nanaka softly.

“You…you look beautiful today…” said Shuka with her cheeks bright red; Nanaka rose her eyebrows, was Shuka trying to be  _Ikemen_?

“Uh…You look adorable too…” said Nanaka shyly.

“You are cute…” said Shuka and smiled wide.

 

Nanaka smiled back, she wanted to kiss her deeply and softly, but something else caught her sight. Nanaka frowned.

 

“Is… Is that my scarf?…” asked Nanaka.

“Oh!” snapped Shuka with a wide smile, “Yes, it is… Can I borrow it?” asked Shuka in an amused tone.

Nanaka hummed.

 

“Sweetie, you should have asked me before, that scarf doesn’t match your yellow sweater or your coat… And definitely not with those shoes at all…” said Nanaka with a laugh caught in her mouth.

“Eh?! Really?! But... it's so fluffy… and… it smells like you…” she finished softly, taking the scarf to her face.

“But, it doesn’t suit you…” laughed Nanaka.

“I think it doesn’t fit you either…” said Shuka pouting.

“Of course it doesn’t, I’m wearing brown… Oh! Wait…” said Nanaka undoing the buttons of her coat and opened it, she revealed a white and soft long sweater, “My sweater is white, it fits me!”

Shuka was looking at her in awe, but she didn’t say a thing.

 

“What?…” asked Nanaka dryly.

“I… I just adore when you undress…” said Shuka shyly.

“Eh?!… Shukashuu…”

“Sorry!” said Shuka smiling wide and giggling, “Can’t be helped….  _E_ _to_ , why are you wearing the high ponytail? I thought that hairstyle was to perform, or for the _Niconama_ …"

“Well, I’m going to visit where ‘Kanan’ lives right? I thought it would be suitable for me to bring the one thing that connects us; her high ponytail” said Nanaka showing Shuka the ponytail “Also, the lace is green…”

Shuka smiled wide.

 

“You are so clever… and cute…” said Shuka getting closer, Nanaka recognized that look on Shuka’s face.

“I love you, but we can’t…” whispered Nanaka; Shuka pouted.

 

“Ok Girls! We have arrived!” said the Chief of staff in his happy tone.

 

Shuka jumped on her seat and looked with a frightening look at her. 

“Woa… Suwawa… we almost—“ 

“Yes… My, seating with each other is dangerous… Especially if we haven’t been on a proper date…” said Nanaka grabbing her bag, all the girls started to move out of the bus.

“Uhm… You want to switch seats for the way back…?” asked Shuka taking the scarf off her neck.

“Maybe that’s a good call…” said Nanaka.

“I miss you already…” said Shuka softly and left the scarf on the seat, “I guess I’m not taking this with me… Since it doesn’t suit me…” 

Nanaka giggled.

 

Sightseeing in Numazu was actually pretty interesting.

They were really hyped about it and took pictures and videos everywhere, even in front of Numazu station, which Nanaka thought was weird, because it wasn’t a particularly interesting sight, but, of course, the group insisted in taking that picture because of Numazu’s sign. 

The good thing about this was that Shuka was very fond of Nanaka, and of course, she took the opportunity to be close to her, or even clinging to her, this being portrayed as Shuka resting her head on Nanaka’s shoulder. It was adorable.

 

Aina, on the other hand, tried to stay as far from the couple as possible. Or at least, far from Nanaka.

It seemed that she was still feeling a bit guilty about what had happened on the night of January 11th. 

 

Anyways, the tour in Numazu was very interesting. While they were wandering around and making memories, the Chief of staff was telling them about the anime, or what building was taken as reference for the Anime. 

 

Later they went to Uchiura.

They replicated the picture from the first key visual of the project, the one with the “Save Love Live!”. Of course, Shuka was clinging to Nanaka, same as You and Kanan were doing.

They watched Uchiura bay; it was indeed beautiful, a little bit cloudy and chilly, but nice. The 9 of them being there, walking and watching the places “the girls” lived was something interesting to feel.

 

For Nanaka, doing her Seiyuu activities was simple; got the role, studied a perfect suitable voice, went to a building and recorded the voice for a character, and then move on.

Until now.

There was something else here; they weren’t just voice actresses, this wasn't just a study for a character for them to then record a voice.

Uchiura was where Kanan studied and lived; where she played with her childhood friends Chika and You, where she decided to become a school idol for the sake of saving her school, and she, Suwa Nanaka, was standing there, feeling, watching and breathing the spirit of a girl chasing for a dream.

 

“Suwawa…?”

She heard a voice, a diligent voice.

 

Nanaka snapped out of the resolution of her own mere existence in the project to greet Arisa.

The 9 of them were in line watching Uchiura beach.

For the first time in the whole trip, Aina was standing by her side and next to Arisa.

“What?…”

 

“I’m sorry to be your doom… but…” said Arisa with a bit of trouble, “I just couldn’t help but notice that you haven’t taken any picture with Aina-san…” said Arisa looking from Nanaka to little Aina in the middle.

Aina looked at Arisa, then turned to Nanaka and made a bitter expression.

 

Nanaka blinked a few times. Of course, the  _NanaAina_  thingie…

 

“I can’t blame her, “ said Aina with a serious tone “ Shuka has been clinging to her since we started this trip...”

“So?” asked Arisa.

“I don’t want any trouble...”

“I appreciate the effort,” said Nanaka.

“Nonsense, I’m getting a bit tired of this,” said Arisa annoyed.

“You are not the only one...” said Aina looking at Nanaka.

“What? Don’t give me that face...” said Nanaka.

“Suwawa, Ainya, stop the monkey business and start taking  _‘NanaAina_ ’ pictures, if Shuka gets mad, so be it! We have already talked about it...”

 

_Easy for you to say, she is not your girlfriend..._

 

 

Both remaining girls looked at each other with an apologetic smile.

 

“So?” asked Aina

Nanaka twitched her tongue.

“Alright ...” said Nanaka, and took out her phone.

 

Arisa smiled proudly, then she just ignored them while Nanaka and Aina turned around and prepare for the selfie.

“Remember to smile Suwa-chan!” 

“Remember to be cute Ainya” 

And Nanaka took the picture. 

 

Everybody was taking pictures and moving around; even if the day was cloudy, being there with everybody was heartwarming, and made the day perfect.

At least that’s what Nanaka thought being there with all these looneys.

 

“Isn’t it great?” asked Anchan standing at her side.

“Hum,” said Nanaka softly.

“I’m glad...” continued Anchan, Nanaka looked at her with her eyebrows risen, “Thanks so much Suwa-san, I’m glad you decide to stay with us”

Nanaka smiled at her. 

“Well, it’s not that I had another choice...” said Nanaka in her monotone; Anchan looked at her with a sad face.

“Aren’t you happy?”

Nanaka blinked a few times, then looked at the looneys; 4 of them who were wearing beanies, and they were taking some silly pictures because of it...

“I can’t say that...” added Nanaka.

 

They sat on a step of a staircase that leads to the beach, admiring how their fellow members were fooling around.

 

“Then?” asked Anchan.

“I feel out of place...” said Nanaka softly.

“About the project?”

“I don’t know, I’m not your typical  _Seiyuu_ , I’m still fighting to find my similarities with ‘Kanan’, I don’t know... Also, I don’t know if I fit in this group...” said Nanaka in a sad tone.

“I get it...” said Anchan.

“You do?” 

“Yes; you know, you saved me back then in training camp, I was in doubt, then I realized my role here,” said Anchan looking straight ahead, to the rest of the members, doing what they did best; noise

 

“I feel happy to be the Leader, I feel happy that we have this group, and you know why? Because we are all different...”

Nanaka looked at Anchan with a risen eyebrow.

“That is what makes us shine, the fact that we are all different...” said Anchan smiling proudly.

“Shine...?”

“Aqours can’t be whole if you are not here with us; we need your demure and nonchalant personality,” said Anchan in an amused tone.

“Eh...?”

“Besides, someone has to control Ainya...” said Anchan, watching Aina and Aikyan doing silly stuff.

Nanaka snorted.

 

_I think all members need to be on a leash…_

 

Arisa and Rikako sat beside Anchan, and as if it was on cue, Shuka sat beside Nanaka, grabbing her left arm once again. Of course, “First years” and Aina saw that they had been left out, so they also took a seat. Aina and Aikyan besides Arisa, Aiai, and King next to Shuka.

 

“We move as one... And we don’t leave anyone behind...” said Anchan softly, Nanaka smiled sweetly, playing with her hands nervously.

 

They stayed, almost miraculously, in silence, looking straight ahead to the horizon, maybe not looking at anything in particular but their own future. 

That was a perfect way to enjoy the view and the moment.

 

 

 

Later they went to “Uranohoshi”; it isn’t called that in real life but, it’s the school from which the girls’ was modeled after for the Anime. It was located on top of a hill, so it was a little bit chilly. King, in a good act of friendship, lend her scarf to Nanaka, who was shivering from the cold, this act gave Shuka a prominent frown.

They took a significant picture in the school gym. Of course, Shuka at Nanaka’s side, leaving Aina far from them once again.

 

They took the bus once again to travel to Uchiura port, it was time to cross to Awashima.

In the bus, Shuka insisted Nanaka use the fluffy scarf and gave King her’s back.

Even if the scarf didn’t match Nanaka’s brown outfit.

They took a ferry to Awashima marine park.

The Chief of staff told them that there would be a ferry branded with Love live Sunshine pictures of the characters; also, one for Mari.

Aina gave little jumps of joy in her spot because of it; when “First years” asked why, the Chief told them that Mari was supposed to live in the hotel in Awashima, she was supposed to be a spoiled little rich girl, so it was like her to have a private ferry to the hotel.

Aina laughed like an old man about it.

 

Actually, in Awashima, there isn’t much to see. It’s a little island with the hotel on one side; a shrine in the middle, on top of the hill; a frog museum; a restaurant in the port, and a penguin reserve with some fishes in the “Marine Park”.

Kanan and Mari are supposed to live on the island; Mari in the hotel and Kanan in the frog museum, that in the Anime was a diving shop.

 

They first went to the frog museum which was really close to the port.

Aina was greatly impressed with the frogs, she even grabbed one. King was also enthusiastic and grabbed one too.

The museum was interesting enough for them to buy some souvenirs.

 

After the museum, they walked a bit by the sidewalk. Of course, “First years” were fooling around while singing some “frog song”.

They walked by until reaching the sea lion reserve, so they entered to see the show; it was hilarious! They even took a nice picture with the star of the show.

 

But they kept strolling by the island’s sidewalk until they reached a tunnel that crossed it. Inside, it had some star shaped lights. It was really romantic. Nanaka and Shuka crossed it holding hands but separated them once they crossed to the other side.

They were greeted by a beautiful sight of Uchiura Bay and the school on top of the hill. 

 

Suddenly, Arisa attacked once again and asked Nanaka and Aina to take more pictures, with the excuse that this island was  _Kanamari_  territory, and they should have pictures to show that.

So they did. 

But it was more a funny picture than a romantic one. 

 

Later, they went back to Awashima port to have lunch in the nice restaurant. 

Here things became interesting.

 

The Chief of staff gathered them in the restaurant reception, while one of his assistants went inside to arrange the tables and such. Him, with the creepy assistant and another guy of the staff, were in line to start giving them instructions.

 

“Ok, before we have lunch we will have a little ‘activity’ with Subunits...” he said, all the members shared concerned looks; Nanaka and Shuka shared a sad smile.

 

“Please, can you stand in the Subunit line up?” He asked.

 

Everybody moved with clumsy steps; in the middle was Subunit A, to its left Subunit B, and to the right, Subunit C. 

 

The Chief shared some looks with his staff, they even giggled.

The girls looked puzzled.

 

“Sorry, it’s like... Subunit B are all the tall members...” he said. Of course, Subunit A and C laughed about it. 

Subunit B just pouted, they still didn’t feel comfortable with each other.

 

“Not only that... Have you stopped to think about our image colors?” asked Arisa in annoyance “They are traffic lights! Red, yellow and green!”

Everybody started to laugh really hard, the Chief even made his particular laughter while, Aina laughed in her old man way; King pouted annoyed, while Nanaka mentally facepalmed, Arisa just hummed.

This unit was the worse.

 

“Ok ok, maybe that’s a charm point... Don’t get discouraged yet, you haven’t done anything...” said the Chief, everybody remained quiet.

 

“So, as you might now, Subunits will be a very important part of the project; you still don’t have a name for each, but that doesn’t matter now,” he said with a smile.

“In a few months from now, Subunits will be holding a competition!” 

“Eh?!” snapped the girls.

“Yes! You will be competing with each other in order to win fantastic prizes, and of course, to further expand the franchise...”

 

Nanaka shared some looks with Shuka; not happy to be separated, now they were enemies.

 

_Fantastic..._

 

“After the ‘ _Trio Da Yo Niconamas_ ’ you are holding right now, we will have special  _Niconamas_  with Subunits, where you will be doing some activities to earn points for this competition, of course, the unit that wins will be rewarded, and the one who loses, will have a punishment game...pretty fun” he added.

 

“We are not going to lose!” snapped Aiai doing her  _gambaruby_  pose.

“We will wipe the floor with you!” added Shuka by her side; Anchan just covered her face in embarrassment.

“No no, no way, we will win!” said Aikyan in a low tone, doing some weird things with her hands.

“Yes! We will have our eyes on the price!” said Aina in her Mari's voice, Rikako was holding her laughter.

 

Nanaka shared some looks with King and Arisa.

The three of them shrugged and looked between sad and annoyed.

 

“Yeah... we will do our best...” said King with a gloomy tone.

“That’s the spirit” added Arisa.

Nanaka hummed.

This unit was just that poor of enthusiasm.

 

“Good to see you are on board...” the Chief said looking towards Subunit A and C, then looked at B and added, “You will get used to it... Do your best” Subunit B shrugged again.

 

“Well, you will be holding a number of live broadcasts to earn points. Also, you will be in this year’s SIF  _K_ _anshasai_  2016, as special guest and MC, and the final competition of Subunits will be held there too. This will take place on May 21st and May 22nd.” 

The girls shared some excited sounds of joy.

 

“So, we will start right now with the competition!” He continued, the girls abruptly went silent. “We will be shooting some Subunit videos for a segment for the  _Namas_ , it’s like a quiz, it will be fun...”

 

_Yeah... fun..._

 

“Okay, we will ask Subunit A to go first, of course, it will be quick.” 

And with that, Anchan, Shuka, and Aiai entered the restaurant with the Chief and he’s people, leaving the other 6 girls behind.

 

Subunit C started to talk vividly with each other, while Subunit B fell in deep silence.

 

Nanaka blinked a few times and decided to take off her scarf and coat while waiting.

“Guys, we need to do something about this…” said King, Nanaka looked at her with her “Suwa face”.

“About what?” asked Arisa, also taking her coat off.

“Us, it can’t be this awkward all the time…” said King.

“It’s not… Right Suwawa?…” asked Arisa to Nanaka; she just hummed.

 

King deadpanned.

 

“See? You guys are not fun…” said King annoyed.

“Kanako, we are like this, you can’t ask Suwawa to start making the fool of herself as you do…” said Arisa in her diligent tone, Nanaka looked at her with a surprised look. Was Arisa standing for her again?

 

“Yeah, but what about you? Arisha, we need to stand out from the Subunits; look,”   
Said King pointing out Subunit C, they were talking vividly and making some poses, it looked like they were working on a Subunit image or something like that.

 

“I think we are at a disadvantage, 'Subunit A' is like the energetic one, having Furirin and Shukashuu there, Anchan will follow them I assume. And see, ’Subunit C’ has Ainya and Aikyan, making them the weird unit… Poor Rikyako though…” said King ending with a sad tone, Arisa and Nanaka just hummed.

 

_Indeed, poor Rikako…_

 

“So, what are you saying?” asked Arisa.

“I’m saying that we don’t have anything to stand out!” said King concerned, “Our subunit is boring, lame and plain!”

Nanaka frowned.

“That’s not true…” said Arisa, not convinced.

King deadpanned, and Nanaka looked at her with her “Suwa face”.

 

“Arisa, she is right…” said Nanaka in her monotone, “Not just because we, the actresses, are somehow boring, but our characters are too…”

“I’m not boring,” said King annoyed, “You are, and Arisa is too serious!” 

“Well, ‘Dia-san’ is a serious character, while ‘Kanan-san’ is way too nonchalant, and ‘Hanamaru-chan’ is a quiet library mouse…” said Arisa deep in thought.

“Where do you want to find something appealing while mixing this characters, King?” asked Nanaka.

King blinked a few times, not sure what to answer.

 

“Maybe you are fun, but ‘Hanamaru’ isn’t, you can’t give her that, it’s like I can’t give ‘Kanan’ my demure thing, because she isn’t like that…” said Nanaka serious.

King hummed.

“Arisa is screwed because she is like ‘Dia’” said Nanaka with her nonchalant tone looking at Arisa.

“I…I can be fun too…” said Arisa a bit awkward.

“You can’t force your character to be like you, it's the other way around…” said Nanaka.

“Right… So you will be acting like ‘Kanan-san’?” asked King.

“Yes, when the time comes and it's required, but until then, you have to bear with me and my lack of energy…” said Nanaka with her “Suwa tone”.

“So, our unit is doomed to be the boring one because of our characters…” said Arisa in a diligent tone, King pouted.

Nanaka hummed.

 

The Subunit of Doom. Not only she wasn’t with Shuka or Aina, but Kanan was stuck with two characters who also felt trap. There must be something about these 3 characters that should be appealing, and also, that could be used by the  _Seiyuus_  to stand out from the units.

 

Nanaka looked at Subunit C, they were definitely weird, Aikyan and Aina were really loud and did silly things, and Rikako was trying hard to follow them.

As Nanaka recalled what Sakurako Kimino had said, the leaders of the Units were supposed to be Chika, Kanan, and Riko.

If it was like µ’s, the leader would mark the vibe of the unit; meaning that Subunit A, with Chika in charge, would be the energetic one; Subunit B with Kanan would be… What?… The sporty one? And Subunit C, with Riko in charge, would somehow be like “ _lily white_ ”, a mature and serious unit.

 

But of course, not everything depended on the unit leader, like right now, Rikako and Riko were similar in a way, Rikako wasn’t the noisy type, but she was stuck with two members that were, and also, her character was stuck with two weird characters; Mari and Yoshiko, so Riko’s mature vibe would be eclipsed by these two weirdoes, completely changing the unit’s vibe, and maybe confuse who the leader was, Mari or Yoshiko?

 

Nanaka blinked furiously. 

“Arisa, can I see the paper of unit names the Chief gave you?” asked Nanaka.

Arisa searched her pocket and gave it to Nanaka.

 

“What?” asked King.

“You will find our appeal in the names?” asked Arisa.

“Maybe…” said Nanaka opening the paper “Realize that production thinks two steps ahead of us; why would production line up a unit like ours if they didn’t have something in mind?…” said Nanaka with a diligent tone.

 

_These people are not dumb. They, of course, have thought about everything. Characters, and members._

 

Same way as the example of Riko and Rikako, Kanan and Nanaka were special; while Kanan was an energetic and sports enthusiast, Nanaka was the opposite, so it was almost obvious that no matter which unit Kanan was chosen to be part of, the other 2 members would eclipse her, changing the vibe of the unit.

And in this opportunity, was it someone like Dia / Arisa and Hanamaru / King. The vibe and appeal points would be marked by these two, not Kanan, and because Dia is a strong character, everybody would think that Dia/ Arisa was the leader. Meaning that this unit would be mature and serious.

 

Dia and Hanamaru were quiet characters, diligent, honor students. Pure maidens.

On the _Seiyuu side_ , they were the tallest; one was a model, Nanaka was girly, and King was energetic.

So, no wonder if the appeal of the unit would be something like a delicate flower, sexy but pure one.

 

Nanaka read the names for Subunit B out loud. They were all girly names, flower names or girls’.

 

“That’s our appeal,” said Nanaka with her monotone “Being girly, pure maidens…”

“Flower girls…” said King a bit annoyed.

“Makes sense though…” said Arisa taking the paper back and reading it once again.

“We are the new  _Lily White_ …” said Nanaka with her monotone, King pouted.

“I think it’s not that terrible…” said Arisa looking at the paper.

“I think it’s good, it would fit us…” said Nanaka.

“What? Why?” asked King.

 

“We are the clever unit,” said Nanaka dryly; Arisa lifted her sight towards Nanaka and gave her a malicious smile.

“I was thinking the same thing…” said Arisa.

“Eh?…” said King trying to understand.

“Look…” said Arisa giving her the paper.

“All the names for Subunit A are ‘energetic’ types, think about their members and characters…” said Nanaka.

King was reading the paper with a frown on her face.

“While all the names for Subunit C are Gothic or mysterious ones, following more ‘Yoshiko’s’ and ‘Mari’s’ vibe, not ‘Riko’s’; they are the weird unit…” continued Nanaka. 

King seemed lost.

 

“Think about the competition; Subunit A is too dumb and Subunit C is too weird,” said Arisa in her diligent tone.

King opened her eyes wide.

“Maybe we are not fun at all, but the fact is that we, Arisa and I, are calm beings, can give us the advantage that we think before act…” said Nanaka.

“And we need brains to win this thing more than energy… And well, that’s why you are here with us, you are our energy Kanako” said Arisa.

“We are the clever unit King… Also the harmonic one, there’s a one of a kind attribute in this unit,” said Nanaka with a proud smile.

“This means that we are the most suitable unit,” said Arisa diligently.

“And the most balanced...” said Nanaka.

“You can be the energetic one and try to fool around, we will make sure to put some brains in it.” said Arisa in an amused tone.

“Are you telling me that I’m the dumb one in the group?” asked King with a frown on her face.

 

Nanaka bit her lips, and Arisa curled the corners of her mouth. 

“No...” said Arisa.

Nanaka giggled.

 

_With that silly hat, she is wearing… she is definitely the dumb one here…_

 

Suddenly, the door opened again, with the Chief of staff popping out from it. 

“Girls! Let’s go inside, it’s time to eat!”

 

All the girls shut up abruptly and nodded.

 

They entered the restaurant, it was big and traditional, so they needed to take off their shoes.

A nice table was set for the 9 of them, with a nice view of the port of Awashima.

Subunit A came from the back of the place with silly smiles; Nanaka just couldn’t help but notice that Shuka had a phone that wasn’t hers in her hands.

 

They took their seats; near the window was King with Anchan, Aina sat beside Anchan, next Rikako with Arisa, and at the end of the table Aikyan.

Next to King was Nanaka, Shuka of course, and Aiai next to her.

 

“What’s with that phone…?” asked Nanaka the second they sat.

“Eh?… Hehe, nothing…” said Shuka smiling weirdly.

“Mmm…. Nothing?” asked Nanaka with a frown.

“It’s for the activity… You’ll see…” said Shuka without taking her smile out of her face.

 

The waitress came with some trays with 4 bowls. Of course, it was lunch.

Nanaka smiled, relieved that there was no rice in that meal. Then her attention was caught by Shuka turning on the phone’s camera.

 

“Ok! Anchan I’m ready,” said Shuka.

“Eh?… Ready for what?” asked Rikako.

“What? What’s happening?” asked King.

“Words from our leader!” snapped Aiai in her squeaky tone.

 

Anchan put her hands together and said.

“Well, let's enjoy our meal,  _itadakimasu!_ ”

And everybody repeated after her, clapping their hands once. Shuka was recording the whole thing, so she moved from one side of the table to another trying to catch everyone, so they even waved to the camera; maybe it was something similar to what they had done on training camp?.

But it was weird, there was no cameraman, and they were only recording this? What about the whole day in Numazu? Why start shooting now?… It was weird.

 

Nanaka just waved to the camera without thinking too much about it, but it was weird because then, Shuka focused on her tray, taking her time to show the 4 dishes on it.

She was recording the food.

She then turned to Aiai; who dropped her chopstick to wave to the camera.

 

“Just what the hell are you doing?” asked Arisa.

Aiai just ignored Arisa’s comment to start fooling with the camera.

 

Aikyan giggled.

“What the hell is this? She is just fooling around...” said Aikyan laughing.

“Ok Ok, let's drop that…” said Aiai more serious, but with a smile still on her face.

“Don’t play with the food!” snapped Aikyan again.

“I’m not doing that!...” said Aiai looking to her food, “ _itadakimasu!_ ” she said softly.

 

Then slowly grabbed her chopsticks and the medium bowl from the tray, the one with the soup; then slowly drank from it.

 

“‘Ruby-chan, is it good?” asked Shuka behind the phone.

Aiai turned towards her with the bowl and chopsticks in hand, and with a big smile in Ruby’s voice said; “it's delicious!”

Then broke into small giggles, with Shuka and Aikyan.

 

“Ok, let's drop this thing now…” said Aiai in her low tone, holding back her own laughter. Aikyan just couldn’t and laughed at her.

Nanaka looked at Anchan across from her and saw she was also holding back her laughter.

 

_This is about Subunit A… what the hell?…_

 

Nanaka just tried to ignore this situation, Shuka stopped recording a few seconds later while laughing with Aiai.

 

“Ok, what was that?” asked Arisa concerned.

Shuka returned the phone to the creepy assistant.

“You will know in time…” said Aiai still holding back her laughter.

Nanaka blinked a few times, this was about Subunits, it was clear.

 

They dropped the topic and continued their lunch with small talk; mostly about what they had seen in Numazu, Uchiura, and Awashima.

They definitely liked it there.

Then, Arisa took out the paper with the name options for Subunits and laughed a great time about them.

 

Before they could leave the table, the Chief of staff came once again, this time he asked for Subunit B to come with him.

They walked to another room of the restaurant, but close enough to the rest of the members, they could clearly hear the rest of the members laughing and doing some noise on the other side.

 

“Please, can you seat at that table…” said the Chief pointing to one in the corner. 

The 3 of them did as they were asked. Arisa near the wall, King in the middle, and Nanaka at the end.

In front of them, there was a man from the staff with a camera.

 

“Well, we will be recording your VTR now, as I already said, we will show this VTRs in a quiz section of your Subunit’s  _Niconama_ ” said the Chief.

“That' was what Saito-san was doing?” asked Arisa.

“Part of it…” said the Chief and gave to Arisa a tape measure. “Now let's focus on yours….”

“Eh? what’s this?” said King.

“A tape measure… First time seeing one Takatsuki-san?” asked the Chief in a mocking tone, King deadpanned.

 

The Chief turned around and talked about something with a waitress.

 

“What’s wrong with this man?…” asked King annoyed.

“Maybe you should take off that hat, it looks silly on you…” said Nanaka softly.

“Eh? Really?…” said King and took her ugly hat off.

“What are we going to measure…?” asked Arisa.

“This…” said the Chief, and put on the table a big bowl with a huge tower of a special dish. 

The girls gave some surprised and amused tones.

 

“The quiz is simple, you will ask how tall this thing is… You will give four possible answers, and then we will record the answer; the subunit who this VTR will be shown to, needs to guess… That’s all”

 

The girls nodded. 

As the first task for this Subunit, it was actually pretty good. 

Maybe this unit wasn’t that bad at all.

 

 

The trip ended in Izu-Mito Sea Paradise aquarium.

They watched some of the animals, some places that the Chief told them might be used for the PV, and somewhere in the tour, Subunit A disappeared once again, maybe to record another VTR.

At the end of the day, the Chief apologized with Subunit B and C because they just couldn’t take the time to record their respective VTRs, so they would have to do it the next time they came to Numazu, which would be on February 27th for the opening ceremony of the Gamers store.

 

They stayed in Numazu’s station waiting for their bus to arrive.

The rain started once again with some heavy winds, but some of the girls seemed to not care about the bad weather. The day had been filled with activities and things to see, to learn and to do, and that was enough to make their day brighter. 

Indeed Numazu and Uchiura was the best place for the Sunshine girls.

 

Nanaka was watching how Rikako and Aikyan were fooling around with some “Evangelion” publicity when Arisa stood by her side.

“Are they becoming closer...?” she said, Nanaka blinked a few times.

“Why do you care? It’s normal, they shared the Subunit too...” said Nanaka in her monotone.

“Eh?, right... Of course,” said Arisa nervously.

Nanaka looked at her with concern.

 

“Are you jealous?” asked Nanaka with an amused tone. Seeing some fragility on Arisa was something funny to Nanaka, not to mention that it was also new.

 

“Eh?! No, no... It’s just, it’s weird...” said Arisa uncomfortable.

“Uhm... I don’t think so,” said Nanaka with her singsong voice. “Last December we went to Sanrio Puroland, the three of us, it was fun... They looked close to each other though...”

“You did uh?”

“Didn’t you see the pictures?” asked Nanaka.

“Pictures? Where?”

“Twitter?.... Arisa, when are you going to make one?” asked Nanaka with tiredness.

“You are right...” she said softly.

“Didn’t Aida-san invite you...?” asked Nanaka innocently.

“Well... no...” Arisa said with a sad tone, Nanaka opened her eyes wide.

“I see... Mmm, maybe she doesn’t see you as the Sanrio type?” 

“There’s a type?” 

“Well—“ 

 

But Nanaka was interrupted by Aiai, Shuka, and Aina. They came in quickly, with a bag full of tangerines.

“Look look, we found  _Mikans_!” said Shuka happily.

“We didn’t find them, we bought them,” said Aiai tiredly.

“They looked so good!” said Aina.

 

They looked good indeed.

Suddenly, Anchan came with King, telling them that the bus was already there.

 

“So... We will seat separately?” asked Shuka, this question made the other girls stop their steps.

“Why would you seat separate from each other?” asked Aiai.

Arisa gave Nanaka a weird look.

 

“Is everything ok?” asked Aina with a terrified face.

“Everything is ok...” said Nanaka walking to the exit.

“Eh? So?” asked Shuka.

“Ok Shuka, we will seat separate...” said Nanaka with her nonchalant tone.

“What the hell?" asked Aiai in her squeaky tone. “Shuka is that ok?”

“Do you wanna seat with me then?” asked Shuka to Aiai.

“Of course!” snapped Aiai, but of course, everybody was feeling a bit weird about it. 

 

They went on the bus, and Nanaka took the first row of seats she could find, if she had to go alone, then so be it. But of course, that never happened.

Aina sat by her side.

 

Nanaka opened her eyes wide.

“What ar—“ she tried.

“What the hell are you doing?” asked Aina.

Nanaka bit her lips.

 

_What...the...hell...?_

 

“What happened? Why are you not seating with Shuka?” asked Aina, stressed.

“Nothing happened...” said Nanaka softly.

“Nonsense, is it because of what happened that night on January 11th?”

“Eh? What?... No, no, Ainya what are you talking...”

“Then?” asked Aina with eagerness.

 

The bus started moving. 

Nanaka took out of her bag, her motion sickness medicine, and her bottled green tea to take it, completely ignoring Aina.

Aina took two _Mikans_ out of her bag.

 

“So?” asked Aina seeing that Nanaka had swallowed her medicine, then she offered one of the  _Mikans_.

Nanaka took it and blinked a few times

“I’m horny,” said Nanaka dryly and bluntly; Aina’s cheek became wild red, she had lost her words.

 

They spent a few minutes in silence; Aina blinking fast, trying to process the information, and Nanaka just enjoying her medicine kicking in. The bus became noisy of course, with people chitchatting happily.

 

“Your house or mine?” said Aina suddenly, with some eagerness in her voice.

Nanaka looked at her side with a frown on her face, not understanding.

“What?” 

“You are horny, well, I can help you...” said Aina shyly.

“Eh?!” snapped Nanaka a bit loudly. “Are you out of your mind?!”

“But, you... then...she... I’m lost...” said Aina shyly with a cute tone.

Nanaka giggled, Aina was indeed adorable, and if her heart wasn’t committed to Shuka’s, then maybe she would start fucking Aina, there in that seat. 

 

“Ainya, I’m horny, but I have a  _girlfriend_ , who happens to be hornier than me...” said Nanaka with a malicious smile. “We aren’t seated with each other because we respect the members...”

“Eh?... Just that?”

“Yes Ainya, just that. We can’t take the risk to be found out because we are horny... So it’s better to seat with someone else...” said Nanaka with a sweet smile.

“Oh... I see...” said Aina in a sad tone.

Nanaka blinked a few times.

 

“You ok?” asked Nanaka.

“Me? Yes yes...” said Aina with a fake smile.

“Thanks for the  _Mikan_...”

“Of course!”

“Thanks for your effort today...” said Nanaka.

“Don’t mention it... I told you, I want your happiness, and if that’s with Shuka, then I’ll love her too” said Aina with a sincere tone.

 

_Then again, you were willing to ‘help me’ with me being horny..._

_How deep is our friendship?_

 

They shared a sweet smile.

“Let’s take a selfie...” said Nanaka bringing her phone out.

“With the _Mikans_?”

“Yeah, with the  _Mikans_...”

And Nanaka took the picture.

 

Maybe that was the first time that Nanaka and Aina took a genuine selfie without Arisa, or someone else telling them to, or remind them to do it. That selfie was because they wanted to. Period.

And maybe, it was because they felt more connected to each other and the project.

 

That day sure had been special.

That day had been like crossing a line between reality and fiction. Visiting the place where the character they voiced supposed to live; the town, their school, their houses, etc. It was like, for just one day, they could understand the whole of this. 

Maybe even feel like their character.

Their role on the project, how to approach the characters, understand that this wasn’t just a mere role, this was huge, not only for their careers, but they would create a greater impact in a town, in a city.

In the lives of a whole community.

It was really a big deal. 

And maybe, this was a step that not even µ’s had taken, so this was something that would be burned in their souls, only for Aqours members' souls.

This was something that just the nine of them shared; another huge concrete brick of an achievement that was fulfilled.

 

Nanaka blinked furiously trying to get her emotions in place; the day was ending, the rain was slowing down. She realized that, somehow, the bus was awkwardly silent.

She looked to her side to see if Aina was asleep or something but caught her in deep thought. 

They shared some glances, those were satisfied looks. Maybe all the members were taking their time to put their feelings in order, just like that day on the changing room.

 

Maybe today they hadn’t performed, maybe today no one knew who the hell they were back there in Numazu or Uchiura, but that was going to change. They would change that city, that town, their future, and they would create something huge. 

The nine of them.

 

Aina offered Nanaka her left hand.

Nanaka blinked, doubting just for a second, then smiled softly at her, and held her hand tightly. 

It was like that, every time she was feeling anxious or scared, Aina was there to grab her hand and hold her tight.

So whatever future they would face, she wasn’t alone facing it.

 

.

 

.

 

February was a busy month. 

Mostly because of recording the Second single, and recording for SIF. Of course, the Second single and its drama tracks had priority, because the song must be ready for the animators to start doing their job with the PV.

It would be a lie to tell that this time Nanaka had a better time recording, because it wasn’t. Being the last on the poll meant that her portion on the song was small; and this time, they weren’t singing together. Now they had some solo portions, at least in the Second single. 

The other two songs of the CD were one ballad, “ _Mattete Ai no Uta_ ”, where they sang in subunit lineup, and at the end of the song, every member would have a solo line; and “ _Todokanai Hoshi da to Shitemo_ ”, which was particularly difficult to record because it was too tiring as the girls got overly hyped when shouting “One! Two! Sunshine!”, and they needed to re-record it a few times.

 

Also, “First years” held their first _Niconama;_  celebrated a few birthdays, such as Anchan’s and Arisa’s.

And almost at the end of the month, “Third years” held their first _Niconama._  

Nanaka had some mixed feelings; while she had a good time with Arisa and Aina doing the _Nama_  and making the fool of herself, of course, she had problems with Shuka.

Those problems being that in the live broadcast, Nanaka had hugged Aina in the P.E segment, of course, that was thought of by the girls beforehand, but for someone who was watching the broadcast, like Shuka, it was _NanaAina_ in action. And of course, she was mad, and to spice things up, Aina and Nanaka had uploaded pictures of them. This time being a little bit bolder.

 

They were supposed to go celebrate Aiai’s birthday after the live broadcast; Arisa had even made roast beef to share with the members, but Shuka wrote to Nanaka that she was feeling a bit under the weather, so she would miss this celebration. Of course, that was a lie, she was angry.

So only Aina, Anchan and Shuka missed the party.

Aina, because of her issues due living so far and didn’t want to bother anyone again; Anchan, was busy that night in a play; and Shuka, because she was being a brat. 

Again.

But things didn’t go wrong for too long.

Eventually, Shuka regained her senses once again thanks to Nanaka’s infinite patience, and now, with a little help of Aina.

They had started to get along and also share a little bit more.

When you see the same coworkers every day they become like a family, and no matter how mad you were at one of the members, in the end, you continue loving them. Well, Shuka and Aina were like that.

 

And it was clear in the February 27th event, at the opening of the Gamers store, where they had fooled around quite a lot with each other. They had even shared a selfie.

Nanaka, now more relieved about those two, tried to expand her social circle by making some memories with Rikako, even if she was a little bit busy with Aikyan.

But overall, the store opening had been a blast! It had left Arisa with a big impression of all of them, and of course, in the people of Numazu.

Later they went to the Aquarium once again to finish their job recording the VTRs for the Subunits activities, and why not, to enjoy the good and sunny day they had that day. 

Indeed, this project was taking shape.

 

  
.  
  
  
  
.  
  
  
  
.

 

——-**0. March 2016. 0**——

 

With the pass of days, weeks and month, of course, the project seemed to be taking even more shape. 

March was an important month for the Sunshine crew, and this could be traduced as that, on March, the torch would be passed to Aqours. 

Of course, not only that.

 

A few important things were announced on that month’s Issue of Dengeki G’s Magazine; such as a preview of the Second single cover album, the results for the poll of each subunit’s name; and with them, their first single’s release date; and last but not least, a mid-poll result of the voting for the poster Girl for Numazu’s Gamers store.

The voting started the exact day they went to the store’s opening. They signed some posters, writing the reasons why people should vote for their character as the Poster Girl, and of course, they met a lot of fans. The winner of the poll would be “manager for a day” at the store. Of course, it would have a special illustration as a prize as well.

This also being a new chance to win some more popularity.

Of course, the mid-poll results left Nanaka heartbroken, but this time she wasn’t alone in her frustration. 

Arisa and Aina complained too.

The results, in descending order, being You, Yoshiko, Hanamaru, Riko, Ruby, Chika, Dia, Kanan and Mari.

 

“Well, at least I’m not last…” said Nanaka with a bitter smile.

“How is it that ‘You-chan’ is that popular?…” asked Aina concerned.

“Just what’s wrong with ‘Third years’?! Guys! We need to do better on the next _Niconama_! We can’t end last in every poll!” complained Arisa.

And she was right.

 

But, ‘Third years’ next _Niconama_ wouldn’t be until April, so there was still time for that.

 

On other activities, Subunits activities began. 

With the name of each unit decided, now a new slot in their schedules was open, meaning that they needed to start working in their first single as Subunits.

The name of the unit was key because the name, song, and image of the unit should be connected.

So, for Subunit A, the chosen name was CYaRon!, and their release date was scheduled for May 11th.

Subunit B’s chosen name was AZALEA, and their release date was scheduled for May 25th.

And last, Subunit C’s chosen name was Guilty Kiss, their release was for June 8th.

 

This meant that their weeks started to become more hectic. 

Recording for SIF, recording for the Second Single (the whole CD, 8 tracks), recording for the Anime, (the dialogues and also insert songs), and now, Subunits singles, which consisted in 2 songs with lyrics, 2 instrumental songs, and 1 drama track, 5 songs in total.

No wonder why March went by so quickly.

 

But of course, it couldn’t end without the greatest event for Aqours members; µ’s Final Love Live!

 

That Thursday, March 31 was special.

Even if it was a weekday, Tokyo Dome was crowded and the atmosphere was something mixed between sadness and excitement.

Production chose March 31st and April 1st, for the only reason that on those dates, high schools had their graduations ceremonies, and it was symbolic for µ’s to end on those specific days.

 

In the Anime, µ’s decided to disband, for the reason that µ’s wouldn’t be µ’s at all without the nine members, so the group as they knew it, ended the day when third years graduated because there was no point on being School idols if they weren’t students anymore.

That day was symbolized by that Thursday and Friday.

 

Spring was there with all the cherry blossom in full bloom and with all the winds of change. That season was well known by farewells and new beginnings, and this was indeed like that. 

µ’s would say their farewells to their fans, and Aqours would begin with all spotlights on them. 

 

It was a day filled with excitement, but indeed with a lot of sadness.

 

The girls gathered in the station to walk together to Tokyo Dome; the atmosphere was somewhere between nervousness, fear, but with a lot of excitement too. Because they were going as normal attendants, they could enjoy a bit of the atmosphere being just as any another µ’s fans; they were there to learn, but mostly, to enjoy the event. 

 

Of course, production had previously given them specifics instructions for these days, like not to take pictures about this, and not to say a word about it. They were really strict on them, mostly because they would be on their own, because all the staff would be too busy with these events to take care of Aqours; those days were µ’s days, their final days, so Aqours could disappear for two days to let their superiors go and say goodbye to their fans.

 

“Gosh, I’m too nervous...” said Shuka squeezing Nanaka’s hand.

“Sweetie, it hurts...” said Nanaka in her monotone.

“So-sorry...” said Shuka giggling, “I think I’m not prepared...”

“To see µ’s end? Or for us to take their spot?” asked Arisa looking at her phone “My, where is Anchan?”

“Both... I can’t see them end...” said Shuka nervously doing some weird jumps, Nanaka holding her to the ground.

 

“If they don’t end, we can’t move on,” said Nanaka in her monotone “Shuka, please stay still...” 

Shuka did some weird noise, she was just too nervous and anxious.

 

“I guess we will need these!” said King taking out some penlights with the logo of the Final Live!

“Where did you get those?” asked Aiai.

“The Chief gave me a bag of goodies~ He said that we need to live the whole experience...”  said King giggling.

“I’m gonna sing until I lose my voice!” said Aikyan taking two penlights.

“Eh?! But Aikyan, they will sing for about five hours...” said Aiai, also grabbing two penlights.

“Five?!” snapped Aina.

“That’s what the Chief said... Where the hell is Anchan?!” said Arisa, also taking two penlights.

“She is running late...” said Rikako.

 

Nanaka blinked a few times; five hours of Live... That was like too much. Her event on January 11th was one hour long, but mostly because of the talking segment, the live segment was almost ridiculous, just 3 songs.

 

_And I almost fainted..._

_5 hours of Live, that’s like...What? 50 songs...?!_

_Oh, my sweet cupcakes!_

 

“Suwawa you look so pale, are you ok?” asked Aiai.

“I’m good...” said Nanaka with her nonchalant tone.

“Aren’t you excited?! I think I can’t hold myself...” said Shuka taking the penlights too and putting them away in her bag.

“I noticed...” said Nanaka dryly.

“Hey, there she is!” said King pointing out at a girl running towards them.

 

Anchan stopped in front of them with a shy smile, her cheeks red from running and panting softly.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry...” she said.

“Way to go Leader!” said Aiai with a mocking tone.

“What happened?” asked Arisa.

“Sorry, is just...that... I’m SO NERVOUS! I can’t take it” said Anchan, Shuka jumped at her side.

“RIGHT?! Neither can I!” said Shuka, equally excited.

“Nobody actually, but we need to behave...” said Aiai seriously. “ _Ne_ , Suwawa, hold your pet!” said Aiai looking at Nanaka.

“She is not my pet; you are the group mascot,” said Nanaka with bitterness while holding Shuka’s hand.

“Not cool Aiai!” pouted Shuka.

“Ok, now that our leader is here, shall we go to the Dome?” interrupted Arisa.

 

Everybody said a loud “Yes” and started walking.

 

It was SO crowded that Nanaka and Shuka held hands all the way, while Aina clung to King with the excuse that she was the tallest, so that way she couldn’t get lost. 

It was adorable. Aina was like a koala glued to King.

Arisa and Rikako hooked their arms; while Aikyan with Aiai were walking close to each other, Aiai would grab Aikyan’s clothes from now and then, to not get lost.

Anchan was walking by herself mostly, because she was ahead of all of them leading the way, maybe because she was really excited and eager to get to the Dome quickly.

 

The neighborhood near the Dome was covered in µ’s and Love Live! related decorations. Even the train that brought them there was branded with µ’s Final Love Live. This was Indeed a huge event; not only the Dome was crowed, but this event would be shown in several theaters around Japan and Asia. This was a really big deal.

The girls just couldn’t hold their emotions in place.

 

“I think we are lost…” 

Said Shuka tightly holding on to Nanaka’s hand; they were searching for the right entrance to the Dome.

“You should rely on people more often…” said Nanaka softly.

“Are you talking about you?” asked Shuka concerned.

“No, in general… There’s something you wanna talk about?” asked Nanaka holding her nerves.

Shuka paused, then she tightened her grip in their held hands, Nanaka looked at her.

 

“What?” asked Nanaka.

“I…I'm still wondering why you uploaded that magazine picture to your Twitter…” she said softly, Nanaka had difficulties hearing her due to the crowd.

“What?”

“That!… I’m still wondering…” said Shuka trying to keep the pace walking behind Anchan.

Nanaka blinked a few times, trying to understand.

 

“Shuka, that was like at the beginning of the month… Why are you bringing that up…?” asked Nanaka trying to not lose Anchan.

“I… I dunno… sorry…” said Shuka softly.

Nanaka looked at her with her eyebrows raised.

 

At the beginning of the month Aina got the cover of a Magazine, and Nanaka, in an act of good friendship, uploaded it to her Twitter, supporting her and of course, making some  _NanaAina_  comment. Of course, for the fans.

Shuka was pissed of course, because it wasn’t Love Live! related, but Nanaka tried to mend her “mistake” by inviting Shuka on a few dates. 

She even invited her to spend their day off traveling from Kamakura to Osaka, for some sightseeing and to attend a special event.

That had been a few days ago, she thought that everything was fine with this particular issue.

 

“Shuka, we talked about this…” said Nanaka softly.

“Yes, sorry… My bad…”

“We love her… We support her… the same way she loves and supports us…” said Nanaka, and looked at Aina clinging to King like a koala.

Nanaka and Shuka shared some giggles and then a smiled.

“I love you…” said Shuka softly.

“I love you too…”

 

 

Anchan stopped at one of the entrances to the Dome. 

 

“I think it’s here…” she said softly.

“You sure?” asked Arisa checking it out.

“What happened to you?” asked Rikako to Anchan; she just giggled nervously.

“I’m just so nervous about this that I couldn’t sleep in like…I dunno… Three days…” said Anchan shyly.

“What?! But Anchan, that’s—“ tried Rikako.

“I know! But…I can’t help it ‘Riko-chan!’, I dreamed about this! And well, I fell asleep today…” Anchan giggled.

 

“We need to wait for a bit, the doors aren’t open yet…” said Arisa coming back.

The group fell into a deep silence where they could feel the anxiety building up in their bodies. Shuka tightened her grip on Nanaka’s hand so much that it was almost painful. This deep silence lasted like a whole minute.

 

“I can’t take it!” snapped Aiai loud in her squeaky tone.

“You took your time,” said King.

“This is too much… Ainya you ok?” asked Aikyan.

Everybody looked at Aina, she was holding back tears.

 

“We aren’t even inside! What are you crying about?” asked King in a mocking tone.

“It…It’s…sorry…” said Aina softly.

“It’s fine if we get emotional, ok? Leave her alone…” said Shuka in a mad tone towards King; Nanaka blinked with a surprised look at Shuka, then she shared a sweet smile with her.

 

_Good girl!_

 

“You ok Sweetie?…” whispered Nanaka; Shuka nodded with energy.

“It’s just… I feel so small…” said Aina drying her tears.

“But you ARE small…” said Aiai in a mocking tone.

“We don’t wanna hear that from you…” said King.

“Guys, guys…” interrupted Anchan, everybody fell quiet, again looking at Anchan; she smiled wide at them.

 

They shared some looks with each other, understanding that Anchan was doing her Leader thingie once again, and she wanted to say a few words before they could get inside.

They got closer to each other, Anchan giggled shyly.

 

“Sorry…” she said.

“We know… Do your thingie, Leader…” said Aiai in a serious tone, everybody nodded. 

“Actually I didn’t want to say anything… I think I can’t…” she giggled again, “My… I’m so excited…but nervous…actually…” 

She paused, she looked at everyone.

 

“I’m scared…” she said softly, her eyes becoming watery, nobody said a word.

Anchan took a deep breath.

 

“I get what Ainya feels… I feel so small… This place is huge…µ’s is huge… I don’t feel qualified to be their successor…” she continued with a serious tone.

“Being here… as a fan… watching my Idols go, µ’s, go… And we have to take the torch from now on… I don’t know… It scares me to death… I don’t know what is worse, watching them go, or us taking their place…” 

Aina sobbed. 

“Oh my, Aina hold your tears…” said Aikyan.

Shuka extended her empty hand to Aina; she looked at her in awe, then she looked at Nanaka, they shared a smile, and Aina accepted Shuka’s hand.

 

“Anchan,” said Arisa softly, “I think we need to forget about that…for this next two days…” 

“What thing?” asked Rikako.

“We 'taking the torch'…we know that... I think we need to stop torturing ourselves with that today, and tomorrow, and enjoy what has been given to us… this opportunity to watch µ’s, and a real Live…let’s enjoy it”

“I think you are right…” said Anchan drying a lonely tear; sometimes the Leader can have a moment of weakness and feel unable to hold back her words and emotions. 

 

“I’m sorry, I must be a terrible Leader…” she giggled, the girls shook their heads.

“Don’t say that Anchan” said Aina sobbing.

“I… for me, a single fan, a person who used to make dance covers of µ’s, being here, it’s a miracle… to be here standing with all of you, it gives me the strength to overcome this…” said Anchan holding her tears.

“I know we all are µ’s fans, and we all are having a lot of emotions right now; coming together, I think, it’s the best thing that could have happened to us…” she said looking at the others.

 

Anchan stopped her sight on Nanaka holding Shuka’s hand, and then Shuka holding Aina’s, so she extended her hands for everybody to hold hands. They made a circle.

 

“I’m scared…” said Anchan holding back her tears, “I’m nervous, I’m overwhelmed and full of doubt, but I’m really grateful for this moment… I feel happy and blessed… I love you guys, I know we haven’t done a thing yet… We are starting our own story, we are chasing a shadow that’s greater than whatever we have ever imagined; we are standing here…at Tokyo Dome, maybe…” she stopped.

Her tears started falling helplessly down her cheeks, she looked at her shoes...

“Maybe one day… ONE DAY!…. One day we will be here!… Performing… As µ’s is doing now… And it will be great! It’s going to be amazing because it's us! Because it’s going to be the nine of us…” she stopped to sob.

“We… We will chase our dreams, we will work hard! And one day we will stand here too!” she lifted her face to look at everyone; everyone was crying helplessly and softly with her. 

Nobody said a word, their tears falling slowly down their cheeks.  

 

They were nine girls, scared to death about all this.

Until now, they somehow felt “secure” that no matter what, µ’s was still in the front line, they were behind them, watching passively at them, and no matter what, µ’s was there to save the day.

After this, they were alone.

The fans would see them as a poor replacement.

They would compare them, criticize them, complain about them, hate them too, why not?

 

They weren’t µ’s. 

And maybe they would never be…

They were AQOURS.

 

The doors opened and a voice called them to enter the Dome.

 

They nodded to each other. 

“We are here, we are together, we are stronger when there’s the nine of us; we can do this, we can grow, we can make this happen…” said Anchan, tightening her grip.

“We can do anything as long as it’s the nine of us… And one day, we will stand here too, and be thankful for this moment…”

They took a deep breath sobbing hard their tears.

 

“Now… let’s wipe our doubts, our fears… and smile; our Idols will smile back at us… It’s gonna be sad, I know! But it’s time to face it, one day we will end too, so we need to live our days to the fullest and with our heads held up! We need to be proud!” said Anchan getting louder “Let’s watch them, let’s learn from them... But overall, let’s have fun!” she said with a shy smile.

 

All the girls gave an energetic “Yes” and moved inside the Dome.

 

Even if their legs were heavy as stones, their hearts in their throats, and their minds full of doubts, they entered with a big smile on their faces, and their eyes full of tears.

It was a bittersweet sensation; Happy to see µ’s on their last Live, a Live that promised to be the greatest of all times, happy to have the opportunity to be their successors, and the chance to accomplish something incredible, but with a huge feeling of fear; fear of failing, fear of not being up to the task, fear of being compared with their idols, fear of their own future…

Fear of never catching the shadow they were so desperately trying to catch…

But maybe, just maybe… One day, they could even overcome that shadow, becoming something even better.

The nine of them.

 

µ’s ended on April 1st of 2016. 

The concert managed to fill not only the entire 55,000 seaters Tokyo Dome but also cinemas across Japan and the eastern side of the world. They sang 51 songs in total on each day.

After µ’s members went backstage for the last time, the audience began chanting "µ's” repeatedly; they gave their fans the show of their lives and in return, the fans gave µ’s the goodbye they deserved.

 

Now, it was time to pass the Torch.

 

 

 --0oo0--  

 

  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thoughts...?  
> I feel emotionally drained... I bet Suwawa was equally dead. 
> 
> Thanks so much for waiting, for reading, comments, and kudos!

**Author's Note:**

> This series intends to be "long", sometimes there are lots of details to develop, we hope it doesn't bored people out... : x  
> This was just an introductory chapter, the real and complicated things will start on next chapter : )  
> There is an insert story called "Feelings Under a Mask" - If you wanna know the "NanaShuka" relationship deeper- and of course it's related to this story, if there is something you don't get it, be sure to check this out, it has mature content so you have been warned.  
> Cheers!


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